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HISTORY IN THE
MAKING
California State University,
San Bernardino
Journal of History
Volume Seven
2014
Alpha Delta Nu Chapter, Phi Alpha Theta National History
Honor Society
History in the Making is an annual publication of the California State
University, San Bernardino (CSUSB) Alpha Delta Nu Chapter of the
Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society, and is sponsored by
the History Department at CSUSB. Issues are published at the end of
the spring quarter of each academic year.
Phi Alpha Theta’s mission is to promote the study of history through
the encouragement of research, good teaching, publication, and the
exchange of learning and ideas among historians. The organization
seeks to bring students, teachers and writers of history together for
intellectual and social exchanges, which promote and assist historical
research and publication by our members in a variety of ways.
Copyright © 2014 Alpha Delta Nu, California State University,
San Bernardino.
Cover Photo by Danielle Jones, 2014.
History in the Making
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
iii
Introduction
vii
Acknowledgements
xi
Editorial Staff
xiii
Articles
Racial Theory: José Martí, José Vasconelos, and the Beliefs that
Shaped Latin America
by Jose Renteria
1
Mao Zedong and Mohandas Gandhi: Revolutionary Pragmatists?
by Kevin Wheeler
17
The Goose-Step is Only Functional for Geese: Perspective on the
Intentionalist/Functionalist Debate on Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust, and its Implications for Humanity’s Advancement
through Modernity
by Richard Butler
45
Holocaust Ghettos
by Rebecca Parraz
69
The Role of the Prison-Industrial Complex in Demilitarization,
Corporate Outsourcing, & Immigration Policy
by Shellie Shimmel
87
Iranian Receptivity to CIA Propaganda in 1953
by Alex Ponce
105
Development in Southern California after World War II:
Architecture, Photography, & Design
by Joshua Edmundson
125
3
Travels Through History
African History, Western Perceptions, Development, and Travel in
Kenya
by Moriah Schnose
147
Standing Where They Stood
by Richard Butler
161
In Memoriam
Obituaries, Subjectivities, and Perceptions of Ariel Sharon
by Sean Switzer
171
Recalcitrance or Redemption? The contested Legacy of Britain’s
Iron Lady
by Todd Broaddus
187
Reviews
Presidential Documents
by Cassie Grand
207
Book Review: When Money Grew on Trees: A.B. Hammond and the
Age of the Timber Baron. By Greg Gordon. Norman: University of
Oklahoma Press: 2014
by Cody August Vrba
215
Film Review: The Attack (2012), Complex Issues through a
Cameras Lens
by Steven Anthony
215
Film Review: 42 (2013)
by Alexandra Martin
221
Film Review: 12 Years a Slave (2013)
by Lauren Kirschke, Jasmin Gonzalez, Moriah Schnose, and
Haley Carter
225
4
Exhibit Review: “Traveling the Silk Road” at the Natural History
Museum of Los Angeles
by Shawn Martinez, Stephanie Reilly, and Charmaine Galley 229
Contributors
235
5
6
Introduction
Welcome to the seventh edition of History in the Making, the History
Department of California State University, San Bernardino’s annual
journal. Every year, California State University, San Bernardino students
donate their time and efforts in writing, editing, and managing the
journal. The board strives to produce a journal that delves into
fascinating and important topics in history. Our hope is that the journal
will ignite passions in readers to further pursue historical knowledge.
This year’s board is honored to present to our readers seven full-length
articles, two articles on students’ travels, six reviews, and two articles in
our new “In Memoriam” section.
In our first article, “Racial Theory: José Martí, José Vasconelos, and the
Beliefs that Shaped Latin America,” Jose Renteria compares the racial
theories of José Martí and José Vasconcelos. He analyzes how social
conditions led to their racial understandings and political agendas, and
how nationalistic movements developed due to their influential
ideologies. Finally, he evaluates how influential their ideologies continue
to be.
Our second article moves from examining racial theories to comparing
revolutionary ideologies. In “Mao Zedong and Mohandas Gandhi:
Revolutionary Pragmatists?” Kevin Wheeler examines Mao and Gandhi
in the pre-1949 era, and explains how the two men are far more alike
than previously believed. It discovers that Mao was indeed a pragmatist
before the founding of the People’s Republic of China and it would be an
over-simplification to represent him as only a violent revolutionary.
Both men were equally pragmatic in the promotion of their ideals, in
order to garner the support of the masses in their respective countries.
Even though they utilized different methods to achieve victory, they did
so for the identical reason of it being in the best interests of the Indian
and Chinese freedom organizations.
The next two articles explore topics relating to the Holocaust. Our third
article, “The Goose-Step is Only Functional for Geese: Perspective on
the Intentionalist/Functionalist Debate on Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust, and its Implications for Humanity’s Advancement through
Modernity,” Richard Butler uses a new perspective, known as modified
Intentionalist, to assert that the intentions of leadership created a society
of functionaries. Ancillary to this goal, the article also offers commentary
on what implications Nazi Germany has had on humanity’s progression
through modernity. Our fourth article, “Holocaust Ghettos,” by Rebecca
Parraz, shifts from debating who was responsible for the Holocaust, to
examining the Lodz and Warsaw ghettos; by focusing on their
7
construction, geography, and transition from a Jewish community into a
Holocaust ghetto. The work discovers that the ghettos were merely
designed to contain the Jews at the outset of their relocation, and only
became Holocaust ghettos as the Second World War progressed.
In article five, “The Role of the Prison-Industrial Complex in
Demilitarization, Corporate Outsourcing, & Immigration Policy,” Shellie
Shimmel discusses how the goals of the American justice system have
been twisted and distorted from rehabilitation of criminals to one
centered on a corporate model of mass punishment based on profits,
expediency, and the exploitation of free labor.
Article six, “Iranian Receptivity to CIA Propaganda in 1953,” by Alex
Ponce, provides a commentary on the U.S. and CIA perceptions of
Iranian receptivity to propaganda from 1950 to 1953, in order to better
understand the blowback caused by Operation Ajax.
Our last full-length article, “Development in Southern California after
World War II: Architecture, Photography, & Design,” is written by
Joshua Edmundson. In this piece, midcentury modernity and
architecture, from its source in the Bauhaus to its heyday in Palm Springs
during the 1950s and 1960s, is explored in depth.
Importantly, the study of history is not just about the exploration of
events in time, but also the experience of living the history as well. This
idea is illustrated in our section, “Travels Through History,” where we
feature a pair of articles written by those who have personally visited the
places about which they have written. First, Moriah Schnose takes us on
a trip to Kenya. She spent time in the capital city of Nairobi, the village
of Kakuyuni, and a few days on a safari in the Masai region. While
discussing this journey, she better clarifies the actual history of Africa,
and how Western views and beliefs have shaped their development since
the 1600s. Our other travel piece is authored by Richard Butler, who also
wrote one of the Holocaust full-length articles. Going with that theme, he
discusses his trip to Norhausen, Germany, where he toured the
Mittlebau-Dora concentration camp, and conducted work with an
organization to keep the histories of the camps alive in the cities which
house them.
Our new “In Memoriam” section features two retrospectives on the lives
of Ariel Sharon, written by Sean Switzer, and Margaret Thatcher, by
Todd Broaddus. Both Sharon and Thatcher recently passed away, and
these articles offer a more balanced perspective on their lives than ones
which the media may give. Furthermore, they discuss how influential
8
their work was to shaping the histories of Israel, Great Britain, and the
world in general, during the twentieth century.
Rounding out this year’s journal are three film reviews, one exhibit
review, one book review, and a review of the current archival practices in
place at presidential libraries. The latter is placed first, and is authored by
Cassie Grand. Following that is a book review of Greg Gordon’s When
Money Grew on Trees: A.B. Hammond and the Age of the Timber Baron
by Cody August Vrba and the three film reviews: one on The Attack,
written by Steven Anthony, another on 42, authored by Alexandra
Martin, and a third on 12 Years a Slave, co-authored by members of the
History Club. Finally, Charmaine Galley, Shawn Martinez, and
Stephanie Reilly review the Silk Roads exhibit on display at the Los
Angeles Museum of Natural History.
We hope that you find these articles as informative and compelling as we
do, and sincerely thank you for reading the 2014 edition of History in the
Making.
Kevin Wheeler,
Chief Editor
9
10
Acknowledgements
Without the hard work and dedication of many individuals, this journal
would not have been possible. From cover to cover, staff, faculty, and
especially students, have donated their time and efforts in its
development and completion.
The editing process can be a difficult one, and the editorial staff would
like to thank faculty members and staff who helped during this process.
Among them, but not limited to them, were: our Faulty Advisers, Dr.
Cherstin Lyon and Dr. Tiffany Jones, as well as Dr. Jeremy Murray, Dr.
Timothy Pytell, and Dr. David Yaghoubian. Thank you for the help and
insightful feedback, which you have given to authors and editors alike.
Additionally, thank you to Danielle Jones for providing the cover photo
for the journal.
Thanks to all students, especially those who submitted their papers for
review and possible publication. The response to the “call for papers”
was rather impressive, and I would like to thank you for your interest and
support. Furthermore, thank you to authors for working with your
assigned editors, and congratulations on your publications. Most
importantly, my utmost appreciation goes to the editorial board for their
time and efforts. You have done significant jobs with the reading,
selection, and editing processes over this past academic year. Your work
is highly valued, and I am proud of each and every one of you.
Once again, thank you.
Kevin Wheeler,
Chief Editor
1
12
Editorial Staff
Chief Editor
Kevin Wheeler
Copy Editor
Shannon Long
Travels through History Editor
Meagan Muschara
In Memoriam Editor
Ricardo Elias
Review Editor
Moriah Schnose
Associate Editors
Alejandra Banuelos
Alexis Butts
Maria Figueroa
Blanca Garcia-Barron
Jasmin Gonzalez
Sarah Hansen
Felicia Hernandez
Jennifer Madsen
Faculty Advisers
Dr. Tiffany F. Jones
Associate Professor of History
Dr. Cherstin Lyon
Associate Professor of History
Phi Alpha Theta/History Club Adviser
Dr. Jeremy Murray
Assistant Professor of History
xiii
Jose Renteria
Articles
Racial Theory: José Martí, José Vasconelos, and the
Beliefs that Shaped Latin America
By Jose Renteria
Abstract: This essay compares and contrasts the racial theories of José
Martí and José Vasconcelos. It analyzes the social conditions each
experienced in their respective time period and location, as well as
explaining how such exposures led to their racial understandings and
political agendas. The study primarily reveals how nationalistic
movements developed due to their influential ideologies, and how both
intellectuals influenced other prominent Latin American figures. Lastly,
it sheds light on the elements of Martí’s and Vasconcelos’ ideals that
continue to survive.
Latin America’s vibrant culture and ethnic mixtures have shaped the
region’s models of cultural and racial understanding presented by
prominent intellectuals such as José Martí and José Vasconcelos. The
racial theories presented by these two scholars created forms of cultural
fusion that confronted traditional ideas about race in Latin America.
Furthermore, their ideologies greatly challenged political institutions and
socio-economic concepts that helped shape new domestic and
international perspectives on race throughout the region. This paper will
compare and contrast Vasconcelos’ and Martí’s racial theories, and
examine the nationalistic movements their ideas affected. It will also
discuss the influence on other prominent Latin Americans through their
personal understanding of racial ideology, as well as examines what
elements of their racial theories remain extant in the region.
Contemporary beliefs on how to interpret race have created
extensive discussions that have spawned conflicting views. According to
Joseph Healy, the present-day definition of race exists as the visibly
distinguished, physical characteristics within the human species (i.e.,
skin color). He also differentiated the idea of ethnicity as being the
cultural, customary upbringing that is commonly confused with the
definition of race. While race and ethnicity hold two different meanings,
1
Racial Theory
aspects of both may overlap to create social constructions of race.1 Some
may dismiss Healy’s interpretations by arguing that no pure race exists,
because physical characteristics continue to blend with constant
assimilation and mixture within different groups. If so, where can the
initial level of a certain race begin in history? Also, due to assimilation
and constant alteration in physical characteristics, do races exist as
groups that evolve and mix with one another? Certainly, no two people
would have the same answer to these questions, but with a better
understanding of these concepts, one can begin to distinguish
Vasconcelos’ and Martí’s approach to race, ethnicity, and how such
views shaped their theories.
The unique conditions of colonial Cuba contributed to the social
experiences that influenced Martí. Racial discrimination in the Spanish
colony reinforced the institution of slavery and its impact throughout the
region. According to Ada Ferrer, more slaves arrived in Cuba between
1816 and 1867 when compared to the modern United States’ entire
period of slave trade.2 A small percentage of Cuba’s population consisted
of free slaves, but they too faced restrictions within the social hierarchy
that had been strengthened by prevalent racial notions. Such conditions
influenced the model for Cuba’s social order.
The common “civilized” dynamic played a major role in
determining what had been considered “backwards” and progressive in
Cuban society. Not only were European fashions, architectures,
languages, and etiquettes the perfect models to emulate, but also notions
of Yankee superiority had begun to emerge in Cuba by the early to midnineteenth century. In the words of Joseph J. Dimock, an 1859 U.S.
traveler, “Cubans do not possess the energy and independence of
Northern races, but they are brave and generous, and only need an
infusion of our Anglo-Saxon blood to make them stand equal to any
nation…”3 In other words, the Cuban race was not civilized unless it
contained civilized blood. Therefore, notions of proper racial hierarchy
had been cemented into acceptable forms of social order that justified
racial discrimination in Cuban society.
While Martí encountered the social settings that reinforced
Cuba’s colonial state, Vasconcelos had been affected by the 1910
Mexican Revolution. The movement emerged as lower classes demanded
property reforms and engaged in agrarian land disputes, but following a
decade of revolutionary violence, elements of class distinction and racial
1
Joseph F. Healy, Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender,4th
edition (Los Angeles: Sage Publications Inc., 2014), 18-21.
2
Ada Ferrer, Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898 (Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1999), 2.
3
Joseph J. Dimock, Impressions of Cuba in the Nineteenth Century: The Travel
Diary of Joseph J. Dimock, ed.Louis A. Perez (New York: SR Books, 2011),
103.
2
Jose Renteria
classification developed. Unified Indian consciousness did not exist
during the armed phase of the revolution, but pre-determined group
categorization created a sense of identity among these lower classes.
Alan Knight explained that racial classification among lower classes
emerged through caste-like ways of branding the inferior Indio and
mestizo in colonial Mexico. Indigenous groups had been tagged as
racially inferior, and this concept reinforced their place in society over
time. 4 Subsequently, the revolutionary agenda manifested significant
racial concepts among rural populations. One must note that race did not
stand as a contributing element to the revolution, but racial beliefs
emerged through prior social labeling. Vasconcelos would help alter the
negative association among peasant groups with the development of
indigenismo and his interpretation of mestizaje.
Formulating Racial Theories
Martí has long been regarded as the most prominent Cuban patriot who
fought for his country’s independence from Spanish rule, and the
struggles he experienced contributed to his racial beliefs. Although
slavery had been diminishing in Cuba by the late 1870s, negative racial
concepts remained highly existent. Ferrer explained that not only were
insurgent recruits during the Ten Years’ War (the first of three anticolonial Cuban movements for independence) branded with racial labels,
but the female perception in the province of Camagüey, for example,
remained loyal to Spanish cultural and racial roots as they signed a
public declaration in an effort to preserve White nationality.5 Racial
perception within Cuban society extended beyond intellectuals and
armed revolutionaries, and such views would have an impact on the
involvement of a united Cuba. The increased awareness of the “Black
threat” within the anti-colonial struggle led to “…thousands of
surrendered insurgents [who] signed a public denunciation of the
movement in December 1871.”6 Efforts by the movement’s opposition
further contributed to Martí’s unique theory that promoted a unified
Cuba. He believed that “in Cuba, there is much greatness, in both
Negroes and Whites,”7 and these ideals would greatly influence the
struggle for Cuba’s independence. Instead of accepting racial distinction,
4
Alan Knight, “Race, Racism, and Indigenismo: Mexico, 1910-1940,” in The
Idea of Race in Latin America: 1870-1940, ed. Richard Graham (Austin:
University of Texas Press, 2004), 75-77.
5
Ferrer, 49-50.
6
Ibid., 50.
7
José Martí, “My Race,” in José Martí Reader: Writings on the Americas, ed.
Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muniz (New York: Ocean Press, 2007), 174.
3
Racial Theory
Martí knew the independence movement would benefit by their
convergence.
While Martí promoted his racial ideals for Cuba Libre (free
Cuba) in the late nineteenth century, Vasconcelos’ ideas emerged
through a decade of cultural development for Mexican national identity
in the 1920s. The so-called prophet of race became Minister of Education
under President Álvaro Obregón. Nationalism played a major role in
creating positive concepts of mestizaje through the political project of
indigenismo, which Knight described as unifying, nationalistic,
mobilizing, and fitting for the self-image of elites.8 Indigenismo aimed to
attract the masses into a modern realm that would allow the peasant
population to unite with the nation, and have their indigenous past
promoted. Notions of cultural and ethnic identity also developed with the
dismissal of emulated European models replaced by indigenous themed
fine arts, cuisine, and fashion. These ideas contributed to new ways of
viewing the Mesoamerican past in Mexico. As a result, indigenous
groups did not seem so backwards, and Vasconcelos used these evolving
interests to reject scientific racism. Scientific racism stood as the widely
accepted scientific approach that justified racial categorization and racial
superiority among ethnic groups, which prevailed during the late
nineteenth century into the early twentieth century. Similar to Martí,
Vasconcelos relied on emerging interpretations of cultural concepts to
develop his racial ideology.
Vasconcelos’ opinions on race challenged racial discrimination
through his understanding of racial competition in Europe prior to the
Spanish conquest. His book, The Cosmic Race, stood as the backbone for
Latin America’s racial reinforcement that gained recognition in the
1920s. It argued against Latin American inferiority by supporting Latin
American racial attributes through a description of racial competition
between Anglo-Saxons and Latins. Both stood as dominant groups in
Europe that carried over an ethnic struggle to the Americas, and this
rivalry continued during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.9
Latin America developed differently from its northern AngloSaxon neighbor. Vasconcelos stated that “the one [the U.S.] wants
exclusive dominion by the Whites, while the other [Latin America] is
shaping a new race, a synthetic race that aspires to engulf and to express
everything human in forms of constant improvement.”10 Due to the
influx of different groups in Latin America, racial mixture was
unavoidable, and the all-inclusive, cultural fusion created a unique blend
of the new and evolving race. Vasconcelos argued that “Spanish
8
Knight, 86.
José Vasconcelos, The Cosmic Race: La Raza Cósmica, trans. Didier T. Jaen,
(Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1997), 17-18.
10
Ibid., 19.
9
4
Jose Renteria
colonization created mixed races, this signals its character, fixes its
responsibility, and defines its future.”11 He supported the idea that the
Spanish mixed with the Indians and Blacks to develop a progressive race.
Some scholars have questioned Vasconcelos’ mixed race theory
by arguing that he later contradicted himself. According to Luis A.
Marentes, “During the 1930s Vasconcelos took a sharp turn, as he
rejected his early racial theories and became a radical Hispanophile.12”13
Marentes viewed this shift as a form of accepting the colonial caste
system, but others viewed Vasconcelos’ interpretation of colonization as
a way to challenge racial discrimination. As Marilyn Miller put it, the
main idea behind The Cosmic Race had always been to challenge Social
Darwinism. She also argued that Vasconcelos did “…denounce
scientifically proven theories of racial superiority by focusing on the
spiritual benefit and enrichment of people of mixed descent.”14
Therefore, Vasconcelos’ central focus in The Cosmic Race was that race
mixture created a new human race, and to tackle issues of scientific
racism by praising indigenous ancestry.15
Vasconcelos believed that the adaptation of a new race had been
significant for Latin America’s future development. As the Anglo
Americans of the north sustained themselves with notions of racial
purity, the south became the reinforced, mixed region of a new continent.
He also depicted a continuous development of race rather than believing
one no longer existed due to its evolving process. Vasconcelos noted that
“no race returns…The Indian has no other door to the future but the door
of modern culture, nor any other road but the road already cleared by
Latin civilization.”16 The large Latin society created an endless path and
continuous marker of advancement. Although the Anglos “advanced”
from their method of cleansing, Vasconcelos believed the Latin race also
progressed from its blend. These ideas began to develop a strong,
convincing racial theory with the potential for nationalistic influences.
While Vasconcelos’ concepts supported the idea of a continuous
race, this core belief greatly differed from Martí’s views which held that
there had been no such thing as race. As he argued in his essay Our
11
Ibid., 17-18.
Hispanophile: Accepting of Spain/Spanish elements.
13
Luis A. Marentes, José Vasconcelos: and the Writing of the Mexican
Revolution (New York: Twayne Publishers, 2000), 79-80.
14
Marilyn Grace Miller, Rise and Fall of the Cosmic Race: The Cult of
Mestizaje in Latin America (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004), 42.
15
While it is necessary to note the criticism, this paper will continue to focus on
Vasconcelos’ theory of the 1920s.
16
Vasconcelos, 16.
12
5
Racial Theory
America, there was “no racial hatred because there [were] no races.”17 He
understood a form of collective civilization that encompassed global
humanity, and created Latin America’s identity. One must consider the
impact Social Darwinism had on racial competition during the late
nineteenth century. The so-called competition between races had been
perceived as an offense against humanity; a problem that significantly
burdened Cuba’s struggle for independence.18 Martí’s belief of universal
humanity challenged racially distinguishing justifications present in
Cuba. Like Vasconcelos, Martí’s idea of an all-inclusive humanity
attempted to reject racism.
Similar to Vasconcelos, Martí also faced criticism for his racial
theory. According to Oscar Montero, “…while recognizing and admiring
cultural plurality, Martí proposed if not an idealized erasure of racial
difference then at least its deferral for the sake of unity in the struggle for
Cuban independence.”19 Therefore, if the merging of Blacks and Whites
could not take place for racial ideology, their alliance must occur for
Cuba’s independence struggle. This questioned Martí’s two-way strategy
by looking beyond the ideological belief, and interpreting it as a true
political agenda. Scholars may also view Martí’s expressed notions of
Western acceptance in Cuba as a significant contradiction to his anticolonial ideals. Martí’s motives for racial collectiveness, however, can be
understood as an improvement of modern education and intermarriage in
Cuban society. Aline Helg described Martí’s principles as a form of
progress by stating that “…people of African descent were to embrace
Western culture rather than reassert the value of their African
Heritage.”20 Martí did not validate a dependent Cuba, but rather
presented a method of obtaining equality through a form of cultural
unification that would improve Afro-Cubans’ socio-economic status.
Helg also argued that “Cuba could not be saved without strengthening its
links with the United States and without Anglo-Saxon education based
on reason.”21 Therefore, similar to Vasconcelos, Martí tackled racism by
strategically countering the concepts of racial inferiority through the
promotion of Western customs in a nation with a strong Afro-Cuban
culture.
17
José Martí, “Our America,” in The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, and
Politics ed. Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr, and Maria Smorkaloff (Durham: Duke
University Press, 2004), 127.
18
Oscar Montero, José Martí: An Introduction (New York: Palgrave Macmillan,
2004), 62.
19
Ibid., 74.
20
Aline Helg, Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 18861912 (London: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995), 45.
21
Aline Helg, “Race in Argentina and Cuba, 1880-1930: Theory, Policies, and
Popular Reaction,” in The Idea of Race in Latin America: 1870-1940, ed.
Richard Graham (Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004), 48.
6
Jose Renteria
Martí’s political career led him to regions that would reinforce
his racial beliefs. Though originally jailed in the Spanish colony of Cuba
for treason, Martí’s sentence had been converted to exile (from 18691894) where he continued his struggle for Cuba Libre abroad.22 Martí
completed his studies in Spain and worked throughout Latin American
countries, such as Mexico and Guatemala. He returned to Havana before
being expelled to Spain once more in 1879 for his insurrectional
participation. In 1880, Martí arrived in New York City where he became
a delegate of the Cuban Revolutionary Committee. 23 During his time in
the U.S., Martí recognized racism as a demeaning limitation for all
humanity. The struggles of Native Americans and Blacks in North
America had been no different than other major movements for racial
equality. To progress, however, Martí also believed racial injustices
should not be committed by those fighting against such discriminations.
Not only had the oppressed been burdened, but racial discrimination also
created resentment towards the oppressors, and this mentality produced a
two-way distribution of injustices. Additionally, Martí admired Helen
Hunt Jackson’s 1884 novel Ramona because it attempted to save
California Soboba Indians from being driven off of their land by the U.S.
government. This issue epitomized the Indian situation of the Americas
and he applied this example to his efforts. As an “all-inclusive” thinker,
Martí examined different struggles, and closely analyzed situations in the
U.S. similar to those that led to his exile.
Setting the Stage for Regional Movements
The beliefs of Martí and Vasconcelos built strong nationalistic
ideologies. As Minister of Education for Mexico, Vasconcelos entered an
era of ethnic revival. As mentioned before, the post-armed phase of the
Mexican Revolution set the stage for the intellectual project he had in
mind. Vasconcelos promoted the nationalistic ideals of mestizaje and
indigenismo through education. According to Rosario Encinas, “The
energy he was to invest into the project spread to a whole generation of
teachers and university students who regarded themselves as bearers of
good news, and who took to the streets to spread this news with an
enthusiasm which has never again been equaled.”24 Decreasing illiteracy
in Mexico also stood as one of Vasconcelos’ main objectives. Native
imagery became an instrument in grasping the attention of rural
communities while promoting the nation’s history. As Encinas put it,
22
Martí, “My Race,” 4-5.
Ibid., 5-7.
24
Rosario Encinas, “José Vasconcelos: (1882-1959),” Prospects: Quarterly
Review of Comparative Education 24, no. 3-4 (1994), 2.
23
7
Racial Theory
Vasconcelos developed “…a pseudo-philosophical argument according
to which a national spirit could only be attained by rediscovering the
native values of a people.”25 To do so, Vasconcelos turned to preHispanic art in order to encourage native heritage in Mexico.
Muralists, such as Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco,
showcased the elements Vasconcelos required for the foundation of
indigenismo. Interest in Mexican culture, society, and art developed for
Indio enthusiasm in the 1920s, and attracted many foreign travelers to
discover such marvels. Helen Delpar explained that “the harmony and
communal orientation [travelers] associated with Indian culture seemed
especially appealing in contrast to the selfish individualism of capitalist
society and indeed of Europeanized Mexico.”26 Travelers sought out the
alluring aspects of indigenous Mexico that created positive beliefs in preHispanic culture. In addition, Rivera and Orozco were among many
talented artists who traveled to the U.S. for sponsored exhibits and
galleries. Their presence, “coupled with the promotional efforts of their
supporters, contributed to the explosion of interest in Mexican art.”27
Mexican artists gained a sense of international respectability while
promoting Mexican national identity.
Mexican nationalism increased with indigenismo, and
Vasconcelos required recognition of ancestral origins, because Mexican
roots ran deeper than the widely accepted forms of its colonial legacy.
He explained that mestizaje would be nothing without considering the
places of Cuauhtemoc and Atahualpa28 (the last Aztec and Inca
emperors), both of whom had bravely resisted Spanish conquistadores
until their dying breath in the sixteenth century. Therefore, Latin
America’s accomplishments must not be rooted with the freedom
struggles of Simón Bolívar, the liberator of the majority modern South
America, and Father Miguel Hidalgo, who many still consider the father
of Mexican independence.29 Vasconcelos wanted the nation to
understand that mestizaje ran deeper than Latin America’s triumph over
colonialism.
As indigenismo swept throughout Mexico, Martí’s agenda for
Cuba struggled in the late nineteenth century after the abolition of
slavery, because Afro-Cubans could not unite during the mid-1880s and
mid-1890s. According to Helg, “Full participation [in social unification]
was, in fact, impossible.”30 Afro-Cubans who retained their roots
25
Ibid., 3.
Helen Delpar, The Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican: Cultural Relations
between the United States and Mexico, 1920-1935 (Tuscaloosa: The University
of Alabama Press, 1992), 25.
27
Ibid., 86.
28
Vasconcelos, 11.
29
Ibid.
30
Helg, Our Rightful Share, 33.
26
8
Jose Renteria
confronted a growing Latin world, while those who chose to integrate
into Spanish civilization faced a constant life of proving their allegiance
to White society. The social divide only increased class and cultural
differences. Many Afro-Cubans chose assimilation, which granted them
higher social status and allowed them to experience less discrimination.
As a result, Afro-Cuban disunity and inequality had a major impact in
Cuban society.
Despite such set-backs, in 1892, Martí continued his struggle to
unite Cuba where he established a newspaper, Patria, in New York City;
which became the voice for Cuba Libre. He raised political awareness
and discussed the social and economic issues that hindered the Cuban
struggle through these writings. For example, “My Race” stands as one
of Martí’s most persuasive essays. It argued that “it is alleged that
slavery does not imply inferiority in the enslaved race, since Gauls with
blue eyes and blond hair were sold as serfs with shackles around their
necks in the markets of Rome.”31 Racism did not prove or disprove rights
or inequalities of a certain race, but rather only justified the ignorant
political and social agendas of inferior men. Such concepts countered the
issues of social unification between different racial groups during the late
nineteenth century. Martí’s goal of unifying Cuba, however, did not
become his most lasting influence.
Martí’s views gained international support as he warned Cuba of
growing U.S. capitalism. His essay, The Truth about the United States,
described growing materialisms that embodied the U.S. while it defended
the cultural character of Latin America. He summed up his argument in
the following sentence:
[T]he North American character has gone downhill since
the winning of independence, and is today less human
and virile; whereas the Spanish-American character
today is in all ways superior, in spite of its confusion and
fatigue, to what it was when it began to emerge from the
disorganized mass of grasping clergy, unskilled
ideologists and ignorant or savage Indians.32
Martí recognized the unwanted values of the U.S. while upholding Latin
America’s desirable and civilized character. He shared these concepts
with other influential Latin American writers, such as Uruguay’s José
Enrique Rodó, another supporter of the values that created a positive
representation in Latin American culture, and exposed the evils of the
U.S. in his 1900 essay, Ariel. Such views would later give charge to one
of the most significant contemporary movements in the region.
31
32
Martí, “My Race,” 173.
Ibid., 189.
9
Racial Theory
While Martí’s writings on Latin American uniqueness were
being shared by his contemporaries, acceptance of Vasconcelos’ racial
theory declined. Encinas argued that by the mid-1930s “…all that
remained was worn-out revolutionary rhetoric.”33The essence of
mestizaje, however, did not disappear completely, but rather transformed.
Miller described mestizaje in the twenty-first century as a term
describing multicultural elements that transformed from the multiracial
makeups Vasconcelos argued.34 The present variation of mestizaje
appeared to be inevitable considering the changing demographics of
Latin and Anglo-Saxon assimilation throughout the adjoining regions of
the U.S. and Mexico. The present Chicano development has allowed for
more of a cultural interpretation of mestizaje rather than one defined by
race.35
Vasconcelos’ concepts may have influenced the way many view
issues on race in Latin America, but no contemporary situation can
equate to that of Martí’s influence on Castro’s Cuba.36 The Cuban
Revolution exists as one of the largest anti-capitalist movements in Latin
American history. Its core concepts stem from Martí’s beliefs on the U.S.
imperial system that developed Cuba’s economic dependency. His views
proved truthful through the 1901 Platt Amendment, which became
legally bound to the Cuban constitution of 1901, and made Cuba a
protectorate of the U.S. that consented much of its diplomatic dealings
(foreign and domestic) in exchange for Cuban sovereignty.37 Although a
majority of the amendment’s provisions were later abolished in the early
1930s, U.S. influence in Cuba continued well into the mid-twentieth
century. Driven by Martí’s warnings, a college student named Fidel
Castro gained credibility for his failed 1953 attack on the Moncada
Barracks (a Cuban military facility) in attempt to start an uprising,
overthrow President Fulgencio Batista, and end Cuba’s economic
dependency. Castro defended himself during his trial with the speech
“History Will Absolve Me,” which presented five laws for a
revolutionary government, and referred to Martí as the Apostle of the
Revolution.38
33
Encinas, 6.
Miller, 152.
35
Ibid., 37.
36
Martí died in 1895 on the battlefield, but this essay continues with his future
influence.
37
Louis A. Pérez Jr., “Incurring a Debt of Gratitude: 1898 and the Moral
Sources of United States Hegemony in Cuba,” American Historical Review 104,
no. 2 (1999): 16.
38
Fidel Castro, “History Will Absolve Me,” in The Cuba Reader: History,
Culture, and Politics, ed. Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr, and Maria Smorkaloff
(Durham: Duke University Press, 2004), 313.
34
10
Jose Renteria
Castro’s desire for a revolutionary government backed by the
Cuban people had been driven by a need for reforms in unemployment,
education, and land, to name a few.39 He sought to improve the living
conditions of peasants, students, and other lower-class social groups. His
struggle followed the color-blind concept of Martí that represented a
collective movement driven by social equality. Castro was released after
a short prison term, and returned from exile to establish a communist
regime in 1959 that fought to maintain Cuba’s economic independence.
Throughout Castro’s political career, the legacy of Martí was used to
carry the Revolution’s agendas. Due to Cuba’s prevailing Communist
party, the opposition has been silenced, and the apostle’s ideals continue
to be used as support for the Cuban government.
Conclusion
To this day, José Martí and José Vasconcelos are credited with
developing persuasive ideologies and sparking mass movements in Latin
America. The cultural fusion of mestizaje confronted traditional, colonial
forms of viewing race in Latin America that justified racial
discrimination, while Martí’s ideals of racial unification and political
freedom influenced a revolutionary Cuba. Vasconcelos’ personal
understanding of racial ideology gave rise to indigenismo, a philosophy
that set the foundation for the contemporary concepts of the new
mestizaje.40 His philosophies have shaped Mexican nationalism, as well
as Hispanic heritage beyond Mexican borders. Ilan Stavans noted that
although Vasconcelos may have no present-day followers, he has
impacted the self-definition of Chicano activists, intellectuals, and
political leaders during crucial moments in Mexican history; both north
and south of the U.S/ Mexico border.41 Martí’s symbolism and personal
understanding of racial ideology left strong, lingering concepts of
liberation that greatly influenced Cuba’s future movements. As Lillian
Guerra put it, “At the center of these struggles, the figure of Martí has
remained the central image through which political elites and activist
groups have fought over the direction of the nation.”42 Both men
confronted social and political barriers and paved the way for other
39
Ibid., 308-309.
For a contemporary analysis of mestizaje, refer to Maria L. Amado’s 2012
essay “The ‘New Mestiza,’ the Old Mestizos: Contrasting Discourses on
Mestizaje.”
41
Ilan Stavans, José Vasconcelos: The Prophet of Race (New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press, 2011), 4-5.
42
Lillian Guerra, The Myth of José Martí: Conflicting Nationalism in Early
Twentieth-Century Cuba (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press,
2005), 257.
40
11
Racial Theory
prominent figures to leave their mark on Latin American history. Many
challenged Martí’s and Vasconcelos’ ideas, but these strong concepts
continue to persist with the longstanding legacy they have left behind.
12
Jose Renteria
Bibliography
Castro, Fidel. “History Will Absolve Me.” In The Cuba Reader: History,
Culture, and Politics. Edited by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr,
and Maria Smorkaloff. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.
Delpar, Helen. The Enormous Vogue of Things Mexican: Cultural
Relations between the United States and Mexico, 1920-1935.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1992.
Dimock, Joseph J. Impressions of Cuba in the Nineteenth Century: The
Travel Diary of Joseph J. Edited by Louis A. Perez. New York:
SR Books, 2011.
Encinas, Rosario. “José Vasconcelos: (1882-1959).” Prospects:
Quarterly Review of Comparative Education 24, no. 3-4 (1994):
719-729.
Ferrer, Ada. Insurgent Cuba: Race, Nation, and Revolution, 1868-1898.
Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1999.
Guerra, Lillian. The Myth of José Martí: Conflicting Nationalism in
Early Twentieth-Century Cuba. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 2005.
Healy, Joseph F. Diversity and Society: Race, Ethnicity, and Gender, 4th
ed. Los Angeles: Sage Publications Inc., 2014.
Helg, Aline. Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality,
1886-1912. London: University of North Carolina Press, 1995.
--------. “Race in Argentina and Cuba, 1880-1930: Theory, Policies, and
Popular Reaction.” In The Idea of Race in Latin America: 1870194. Edited by Richard Graham. Austin: University of Texas
Press, 2004.
Knight, Alan. “Race, Racism, and Indigenismo: Mexico, 1910-1940.” In
The Idea of Race in Latin America: 1870-1940. Edited by
Richard Graham. Austin: University of Texas Press, 2004.
Marentes, Luis A. José Vasconcelos: and the Writing of the Mexican
Revolution. New York: Twayne Publishers, 2000.
13
Racial Theory
Martí, José. “My Race,” in José Martí Reader: Writings on the
Americas. Edited by Deborah Shnookal and Mirta Muniz. New
York: Ocean Press, 2007.
--------. “Our America.” In The Cuba Reader: History, Culture, and
Politics. Edited by Aviva Chomsky, Barry Carr, and Maria
Smorkaloff. Durham: Duke University Press, 2004.
Miller, Marilyn Grace. Rise and Fall of the Cosmic Race: The Cult of
Mestizaje in Latin America. Austin: University of Texas Press,
2004.
Montero, Oscar. José Martí: An Introduction. New York: Palgrave
Macmillan, 2004.
Pérez, Louis A. Jr., “Incurring a Debt of Gratitude: 1898 and the Moral
Sources of United States Hegemony in Cuba.” American
Historical Review 104, no. 2 (1999): 356-91.
Stavans, Ilan. José Vasconcelos: The Prophet of Race. New Brunswick:
Rutgers University Press, 2011.
Vasconcelos, José. The Cosmic Race: La Raza Cósmica. Translated by
Didier T. Jaen. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press,
1997.
14
Jose Renteria
Author Bio
Jose is a recent graduate of the winter 2013 class of California State
University, San Bernardino. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in
History with an emphasis in Latin American History. Jose’s areas of
interest include Central Mexico’s indigenous religion and linguistics. In
the future, he hopes to pursue a Master’s degree in Anthropology that
concentrates on Mesoamerican studies. Jose would like to send his
sincere appreciation to his main adviser, Dr. Pedro Santoni, for his
generous guidance and support throughout Jose’s upper division studies,
especially during the course of this research. He would also like to thank
Dr. Jeremy Murray for his support and encouragement in presenting this
research at the 2014 Phi Alpha Theta Biennial National Conference.
15
Kevin Wheeler
Mao Zedong and Mohandas Gandhi: Revolutionary
Pragmatists?
By Kevin Wheeler
Abstract: Before 1949, both China and India experienced protracted
struggles to gain freedom from their respective governing bodies.
Although the Chinese and Indian Revolutions occurred during the same
time period, and on the same continent, little energy has been spent on
comparing the two in any appreciable manner, even less so when it
comes to the leaders of the movements themselves. Granted, the
reasoning for this is due to the belief that Mao Zedong and Mohandas
Gandhi are too dissimilar for any fruitful analysis to be obtained by
juxtaposing them, but this paper’s focus is on proving that they are far
more alike than anyone has ever given them credit. Both men were
pragmatic revolutionaries who adapted to the needs of their movements,
and were willing to be flexible to new developments which could
potentially alter fundamental underpinnings of their uprisings. With the
preexisting notions of class struggle and violence which have so
characterized Mao Zedong in the past, it may be absurd to claim him as
a pragmatist, but in reality, he was in fact a powerful coalition builder
before the People’s Republic of China was founded. Furthermore,
Mohandas Gandhi is seen as the principal advocate of non-violence in
recent memory, but he accepted violence to avoid cowardice, and only
came to the stance of non-violence after observing firmer approaches
earlier in his life. Even though the two men arrived at different
conclusions of how to best achieve victory, they did so for the identical
reason of it being in the best interests of the Indian and Chinese freedom
organizations. Most importantly, both revolutionaries came to personify
their movements, and that accounts for their “god-like” standing in
historical texts. This paper is intended to bring Mao and Gandhi down
from their mythologized status and to see them for who they were during
their revolutions, ordinary human beings who were pragmatic enough to
sustain the momentum of their individual movements. Without their
realism, the Indian and Chinese Revolutions would have been radically
different.
17
Mao Zedong and Mohandas Gandhi
Introduction
Adapting to current conditions is a necessary feature of any revolution,
but this creates internal conflicts which are inherently different. Failing
to adapt leads to rigidity, which in turn causes a near-certain failure to
the insurrection and a possible collapse of the entire revolutionary
movement. Strong leaders who are able to adapt to existing situations are
vital to the success of any uprising, and both Mohandas Gandhi (18691948) and Mao Zedong (1893-1976) were consummate pragmatists in
their respective countries. They are among the most important figures in
Asia during this time period, and little has been done to compare their
views. While both men had fundamentally different philosophies on how
to bring about revolutionary change, which might make comparison
seem fruitless, research has shown that they may be more similar than
previously believed. Essentially, they chose those different ideals for
identical reasons.
The purpose of this paper is to show that without the flexibility
and modifications of Mao Zedong and Gandhi to better conform to their
environments, the Indian and Chinese Revolutions would have been
radically different, because there was no other individual who could have
taken their place and maintained the level of revolutionary fervor they
engendered. As a result, the time period examined here will be almost
exclusively pre-1949 due to: the Indian Revolution succeeding with the
withdrawal of the British in 1947 and Gandhi being assassinated in 1948,
and Mao Zedong overthrowing the Nationalist Party and proclaiming the
People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949.
In addition, this endeavor is further aimed at discussing the
similarities and differences between their theories and ideologies in order
to arrive at a clearer understanding of why Mao and Gandhi, although
contemporaries in Asia, chose radically differently philosophies but were
nonetheless still able to succeed. The reason for their success stems from
their ability to conform to the needs of the time. It is entirely likely that
they were only ones capable of accomplishing this vital task.
A great deal of Gandhi’s beliefs and convictions stemmed from
his studies in England and from his involvement as a member of the
ambulance corps during various wars in South Africa. During return trips
to India, he became increasingly embroiled in the struggle of his people
against British rule, which led him on the path to becoming a
revolutionary. While he was the embodiment of the term
“revolutionary,” he was far more like a social reformer and diplomat
which caused him to become the leader of a revolutionary movement.
Gandhi did not seek the leadership of the Indian organization, but
accepted it because he possessed the charisma to deal with the British on
their terms in order to obtain a favorable conclusion to their existing
strife. Unlike him in a vast variety of ways, Mao Zedong remained
18
Kevin Wheeler
radical throughout his entire life. His beliefs in “permanent revolution”
and violent upheaval led to constant political problems and bordered on
anarchism at times. Mao had never studied outside of China and only
went as far as Beijing University, the place where his actual Communist
ideals took root under the tutelage of the Chinese innovator of Marxism
and Beijing University librarian, Li Dazhao (1888-1927).
Mohandas Gandhi and Mao Zedong personified their
revolutions. Even though there were other skilled leaders present, such as
Jawaharlal Nehru and Zhou Enlai (who were more behind-the-scenes
contributors to their movements), they were the only likely candidates
able to lead their revolutions effectively. The reasoning for this assertion
is the result of their ability to adjust their ideologies to best represent
their respective peoples. In essence, Mao and Gandhi created a
dependency on their presence, because of the pragmatism they espoused.
The sheer amount of similarities revealed here between one of the most
violent revolutionaries in history, and the greatest advocate of nonviolence in the twentieth century, is remarkable.
The Path to Pragmatism
At their core, both revolutionaries fought for, and even against, similar
concepts and figures. Gandhi was a man of compromise and
understanding, while Mao was radical and violent for the most part. The
former was a student of the British who found that the best way to get
them to leave his country was working with them (In a diplomatic sense,
i.e. through compromise and understanding. This is true even with the
reality that the movement as a whole obviously worked against British
interests through non-cooperation with laws they disagreed with.) toward
that goal based on his extensive experience with the police in South
Africa1 instead of using force as the latter believed was necessary.2 Much
of this stemmed from Gandhi’s spirituality, which drove him to live his
life in a way which would not bring shame to him or anyone else; he
chose to live by the principle of “Hate the sin, not the sinner,”3 and
believed that “To slight a single human being is to slight those divine
powers, and thus to harm not only that being but with him the whole
world.”4 Nevertheless, Gandhi still retained the seemingly contradictory
feeling that “where there is only a choice between cowardice and
1
Mohandas Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with
Truth (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957), 275-76.
2
Mao Tse-Tung, On Revolution and War, ed. M. Rejai (Garden City New York:
Doubleday and Company Inc., 1969), 57.
3
Gandhi, 276.
4
Ibid.
19
violence, I would advise violence.”5 In his country, Mao felt that
“Without armed struggle the proletariat and the Communist Party would
have no standing at all in China, and it would be impossible to
accomplish any revolutionary task.”6 The point is, however, that both
men were the products of whatever circumstances they found themselves
in (as will be discussed next) and had learned to adapt to what they
believed was necessary to further their personal and public goals.
From his youth, Gandhi had made the conscious decision to
become a vegetarian and follow the instructions of his mother
vehemently while studying law in London7 and while in South Africa
where he participated in the Boer War and the Zulu Rebellion as an
ambulance attendant.8 This, for lack of a better phrase, strict adherence to
instructions and a policy of not hurting animals by refusing meat, laid a
firm foundation for his later beliefs in non-violence and peaceful noncooperation. Regardless, Gandhi was not a revolutionary in the common
understanding of the word (i.e. “rebel,” “insurrectionist,” or “renegade”),
for a number of reasons. For instance, he believed that even if his people
had the weapons to seize the country by force, they most likely would
not have chosen to do so because it was not in the nature of the majority
of the Indian people.9 While he may have led a movement against them
and was anti-imperialistic, Gandhi never saw the British people
themselves in a negative light, something which he believed had been
misunderstood by the government in London. “India has no quarrel with
the British people. I have hundreds of British friends. Andrews’
friendship was enough to tie me to the British people. But both he and I
were fixed in our determination that British rule in India, in any shape or
form, must end.”10 In fact, due to those cordial relations, many
Englishmen in India began seeing the British presence there in the same
way that Gandhi and his movement did; it was not a benevolent force,
but a burdensome overseer.11 This growing sentiment, along with his
own experiences with them in England and with the police in South
5
Mark Juergensmeyer, Gandhi’s Way A Handbook of Conflict Resolution
(USA: University of California Press, 2002), ix.
6
Mao, 57.
7
Gandhi, 38-39.
8
Samuel Farber, “Violence and Material Class Interests: Fanon and Gandhi,”
Journal of Asian and African Studies 16, no. 3/4 (1981): 202.
9
Robert Blackey and Clifford Paynton, Revolution and the Revolutionary Ideal
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: Schenkman Publishing Company, 1976) p. 147.
10
Mohandas Gandhi, My Appeal to the British, ed. Anand T. Hingorani (New
York: John Day Company, 1942), 19.
11
Ibid., 18-19, 24, 37.
20
Kevin Wheeler
Africa, made him come to see them as capable of both reason and
cooperation.12
Mao never had such amicable relations with an imperial power,
or even his family for that matter. Much like Gandhi, Mao’s mother
meant a great deal to him (some scholars, such as Lowell Dittmer, have
claimed he had an Oedipus complex),13 but his father was a deep-rooted
source for his inclination toward conflict.14 Growing up in a small village
in a rural area of Hunan Province in southern China, Mao’s many
neighbors still lived under the same backward technological, social, and
economic conditions that existed in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), and
his father came to symbolize that old way of life to Mao, politically and
socially.
My mother was a kind woman, generous and
sympathetic, and ever ready to share what she had. She
pitied the poor and often gave them rice when they came
to ask for it during famines. But she could not do so
when my father was present. He disapproved of charity.
We had many quarrels in my home over this question.
There were two “parties” in the family. One was my
father, the Ruling Power. The Opposition was made up
of myself, my mother, my brother, and sometimes even
the laborer. In the “united front” of the Opposition,
however, there was a difference of opinion. My mother
advocated a policy of indirect attack. She criticized any
overt display of emotion and attempts at open rebellion
against the Ruling Power. She said it was not the
Chinese way. 15
Mao became frustrated with the selfish rigidity of his father’s feeling that
his son should serve the family in accordance with Confucian values.
With this inflexible attitude, and the rebellious tendencies of a youth,
Mao acted out against his father on numerous occasions,16 a tendency
that never subsided. It follows that when faced with a similar wall later in
his life, that of the state of his country and people, he would again defy
authority; in his case, this included several imperialistic countries and
eventually the Nationalist Party under Chiang Kai-shek as well. This was
12
Kamlesh Mohan, “An Assessment of the Gandhian Attitude towards Militant
Nationalists in the 1920’s,” The Quarterly Review of Historical Studies 18, no. 2
(1978): 103.
13
Lowell Dittmer, “Mao and the Politics of Revolutionary Morality,” Asian
Survey 3, no. 27 (1987): 317.
14
Ibid., 317-18.
15
Edgar Snow, Red Star Over China (New York: Grove Press Inc., 1968): 132.
16
Dittmer, 318.
21
a task that Mao described as: “the overthrow of three mountainsfeudalism, imperialism, and the comprador bourgeoisie" (the latter being
the indirect imperialism through Chiang Kai-shek).17 Multiple foes, with
multiple agendas, helped pave the way for Mao to accept violent
revolution as the only possible solution to the existing state of China.
Both men were ideally suited to lead given the context of their
regions, but it was still necessary for them to adapt their ideologies to the
circumstances of the people themselves by being pragmatic about their
situation, in order to win them over. As with any revolution, there are
always numerous ideas, figures, and avenues people wish to support in
order to succeed in achieving political power. It is essential that either a
single person, or idea, predominates over others, or that all of the
different plans to bring about change are reconciled with one another at
some point. Gandhi and Mao were able to do this and consequently
became the unquestioned leaders of their revolutionary movements by
committing a great deal of time and effort toward that goal.
Of the two men, Mao, had the hardest time achieving party
dominance, but Gandhi did have some difficultly as well. The Chinese
Revolution had a great many people who could possibly lead it, and
many did at varying times. This caused disunity and fragmentation
within the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), characteristics which
Communism and Leninism were not supposed to have. The largest
hurdle that Mao had to contend with, and the one which brought him to
dominance once he overcame it, was defeating Wang Ming, Li Lisan, the
“28 Bolsheviks,” and the Comintern representatives (most notably Otto
Braun) who wanted to “Bolshevize” the party and get them away from
relying on the peasants instead of adapting to what the movement
actually needed.18 These men had been trained in Moscow by the Soviet
Union and felt they knew what was best for the party to succeed against
the Nationalists. However, their short stints as leaders of the party ended
after their policies failed to protect the Jiangxi Soviet from Chiang Kaishek’s extermination campaigns, because they insisted on utilizing
conventional warfare against Nationalist armies. Mao had always
advocated for guerilla tactics to be used in pairing with other forms of
warfare, and this had mainly worked in holding off numerous attacks on
their base areas, both before and after he rose to power.19 As Mao told
Edgar Snow: “This does not mean the abandonment of vital strategic
points, which can be defended in positional warfare as long as profitable.
17
Tan Chung, “Chinese History and the Chinese Revolution: On the Dynamism
of Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought,” China Report 26, no. 1 (1990): 7.
18
Nick Knight, “Working Class Power and State Formation in Mao Zedong’s
Thought 1931-1934,” Journal of Contemporary Asia 32, no. 1 (2002): 33.
19
Mao Tse-Tung, On the Protracted War (Peking: People’s Publishing
House/Foreign Language Press, 1960): 104.
22
Kevin Wheeler
But the pivotal strategy must be a war of maneuver, and important
reliance must be placed on guerilla and partisan tactics. Fortified warfare
must be utilized, but it will be of auxiliary and secondary importance.”20
Otto Braun and Wang Ming, however, managed to convince the party
that they instead had to adopt the same conventional military blockhouse
tactics being employed by Chiang Kai-shek in order to gain decisive
victories over him. They wanted to exclusively use conventional warfare,
instead of it being used in the background as Mao had planned.
Following this policy led to the famous “Long March” and the Zunyi
Conference of 1935 where Mao rose to unquestioned party dominance
due to his successful tactics, charisma, and advocacy that the peasants
had to be the main revolutionary apparatus rather than the small and
weak urban proletariat.21
Thus, his admiration for the revolutionary potential of
the peasants was balanced by a realistic assessment of
their shortcomings as a class, and their urgent need for
leadership by the working class and its vanguard party.
His words then were certainly not those of a
revolutionary who willingly embraced rural revolution
and uncritically revered the revolutionary potential of the
peasantry. They were, rather, the words of one who finds
himself forcibly separated from the cities and the
working class, and compelled to find a strategy which
could exploit the dissatisfaction of the peasantry and
channel their revolutionary impulse in the direction of a
modernising revolution. Mao did not, therefore, lose
sight of the need for working class leadership of the
Chinese revolution, and his words and policies of the
Jiangxi Soviet are consistent with those of both the 192730 and post-1949 periods.22
This pragmatism was vital to installing Mao in the position of party
leader following the failures of his peers. Even as early as 1936, under
his leadership, “the Communists (and the Comintern) had radically
changed their position. In a search for broad national unity, they included
the Kuomintang and even Chiang Kai-shek…provided that the latter
would agree to ‘establish democratic representative government, resist
Japan, enfranchise the people, and guarantee civil liberties to the
20
Snow, 112.
Mao, On Revolution and War, 10-11.
22
Knight, “Working Class Power and State Formation in Mao Zedong’s
Thought 1931-1934,” 33-34.
21
23
masses.’”23 Claiming Mao was a pragmatist, “whose genius consisted not
only in a brilliant clarity of mind but in an almost uncanny understanding
of Chinese peasant problems,”24 and who carefully and thoughtfully
altered his beliefs to the circumstances of his movement, may sound
inherently absurd with the ideas of violence and class struggle which has
so characterized people’s memories of him in the past; but during critical
times of conflict in the pre-1949 era, he continually distinguished himself
as a pragmatist and coalition builder.
In India, there were fewer people who could have taken the reins
of leadership than there were in China, mainly due to the country having
been a fully absorbed crown colony of the British for so long, unlike
China which had endured centuries of dynastic and quasiimperial/colony status by several different nations. One of the only
noteworthy examples of who could have led were the Militant
Nationalists,25 and with the nervousness of the Indian people in this time
period toward open conflict (a nature which Gandhi shared, even
admitting that he himself was a rather shy person for most of his life,
something which he “never completely overcame”),26 few could resist in
an overtly militaristic way as they advocated. Gandhi may not have been
a particularly charismatic man, but he did know how to speak with
ordinary people and make them understand that they had to work
together in order to defy British rule. Unity was absolutely necessary due
to how fragmented the country was along religious and caste lines, and
because “he was also convinced that the people’s united struggle alone
could overthrow colonialism.”27 In his eyes, only a concerted effort that
had the backing of the entire country could force the British to accept the
desire of the Indian people to rule themselves, and this would encourage
them to withdraw willingly, and peacefully.28
Both men were able to dominate the leadership of their
respective movements by unseating the opposition with the pragmatic
promotion of their ideals. While other people may have led the Chinese
and Indian Revolutions at one point or another, only Mao and Gandhi
personified those revolutions by eventually emerging as the ones who
could meet the needs of the people and take advantage of the climate of
the time. As a result, they succeeded not only in bringing the desired
revolutionary change, but also being the only ones who adjusted to the
23
Snow, 102.
Theodore H. White and Annalee Jacoby, Thunder out of China, (USA: Da
Capo Press, Inc., 1980): 238.
25
Mohan, “An Assessment of the Gandhian Attitude towards Militant
Nationalists in the 1920’s,” 103-104.
26
Gandhi, An Autobiography: The Story of My Experiments with Truth, 59-61.
27
Nationalists in the 1920’s,” 105.
28
Ibid.
24
24
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necessities of their movements in order to bring about that change to
begin with.
Convergent Pragmatism
Although both men had different ways of accomplishing the changes
they desired, they had similar views on the need to utilize all levels of
society to succeed in gaining autonomy from foreigners. This view can
be seen in Mao and Gandhi’s use of the peasantry and the masses, one of
the few, but important, similarities that can be found between them.
China and India in general were similar in that they were subordinated to
imperial powers: India directly as a British crown colony, China
indirectly through the rule of the Guomindang/Kuomintang and through
the system of treaty ports/concessions with foreign nations throughout
the twentieth century. Both countries had been violently suppressed by
force of arms in the past, and this created a seething desire to rid
themselves of colonizers. In India, on April 13, 1919, General Dyer
ordered “the firing of 1,650 rounds of ammunition without warning at a
peaceful crowd, [and] regarded it as an opportunity to show people the
might of the British Empire for he imagined that ‘the Lord hath delivered
them into my hands.’”29 This event, which became known as the
Jallianwala Bagh Massacre (or more commonly, the Amritsar Massacre)
left 379 dead, and possibly 1,200 wounded.30 The killing did not end on
that day, and continued for several more throughout the area.
“Henceforth, political awakening and disillusionment with British rulers
grew at a rapid pace.”31 Similarly, on May 30, 1925, demonstrators (who
were demanding the release of a number of imprisoned students that had
been arrested for protesting against work closures at a Shanghai textile
mill) were fired upon by a British inspector; “eleven were killed and at
least twenty wounded.”32 A month later, another 52 were killed and over
100 more were wounded protesting these original deaths. “The
humiliation of having foreign troops on Chinese soil who could kill with
impunity led to an unprecedented anti-imperialist explosion that
considerably increased the visibility of the CCP and the Guomindang.”33
The May 30th Movement (as it became known as) and the Jallianwala
Bagh Massacre fostered an intense anti-imperialism and caused a surge
29
Mohan Kamlesh, “The Jallianwalla Bagh Tragedy and its Impact as a Catalyst
of Indian National Consciousness,” International Journal of Punjab Studies 3,
no. 2 (1996): 164.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid., 168.
32
R. Keith Schoppa, Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in Modern
Chinese History (U.S.A. Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2010): 191.
33
Ibid.
25
of nationalism and revolutionary fervor among the Chinese and Indian
people. These events (and the outrage caused by them) laid crucial
groundwork which Gandhi and Mao expanded on and would utilize to
further stimulate their movements. Both men were anti-imperialistic, and
even though they saw different ways of dealing with it, they chose to
adapt to these existing circumstances within their organizations. By
doing so, they were able to make use of not only the peasantry, but also
the nation as a whole. To put it succinctly, living under the occupation of
foreign troops was rapidly becoming intolerable for everyone involved.
On the topic of peasantry and class roles, one must begin with
Mao Zedong because the topic is invariably linked to him. That said,
however, the common belief that he exclusively relied on the peasantry
and was not a Marxist-Leninist at all (instead only forming a Maoism) is
unfounded.34 The reason for this lies in the overall point that he had to
adapt to China’s existing state of affairs and be a more “pragmatic
Marxist.”35 As Mao put it many times, building on the words of the
deceased first leader of the Nationalist Party, Sun Yat-sen, China had a
“semi-feudal and semi-colonial status”36 in the world, and the vast
majority of the population were farmers and peasants. As a result, the
proletariat/urban working class was simply too small to be an effective
revolutionary force on their own,37 something that traditional Marxists
believed was required to succeed in an uprising. Even though it can be
questioned if Mao actually possessed an “admiration for the innate
‘wisdom’ of the peasantry” and acknowledged an “ardent faith in the
revolutionary creativity of the rural masses,”38 he came to rely on them
regardless, whether he was mystified by them or not. Due to this, “Mao
supposedly revealed a singular and conscious disregard for the
theoretical strictures of Marxism,”39 and consequently, it is more
appropriate to call Mao a Leninist rather than an outright Marxist or
Maoist. This is because Lenin advocated a more pragmatic view that
utilized everyone in Russia and turned the focus away from the
proletariat as the sole group for revolutionary action during a time when
it was still in a much similarly backward state as in China.40
34
Nick Knight “Mao Zedong and the Peasants: Class Power in the Formation of
a Revolutionary Strategy,” China Report 40, no. 49 (2004): 50-51.
35
Ibid., 50.
36
Mao, On Revolution and War, 74-75.
37
Ibid., 8.
38
Knight, “Mao Zedong and the Peasants: Class Power in the Formation of a
Revolutionary Strategy,” 50.
39
Ibid., 51.
40
Arif Dirlik, “The Predicament of Marxist Revolutionary Consciousness: Mao
Zedong (Mao TseTung), Antonio Gramsci, and the Reformulation of Marxist
Revolutionary Theory,” Modern China 9, no. 2 (1983): 192.
26
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Knowing that China was so dependent on the peasantry and that
its industrial class would not support a revolution, Mao advocated the use
of the peasantry as the primary force for their insurrection. While he did
have a great deal of support from other members of the CCP on this, he
was continually opposed by many people (mentioned earlier) who
adhered to a more “orthodox” version of Marxism that called for a
proletarian revolution alone and who did their best to steer Mao away
from his reliance on the peasantry. Regardless of this opposition, Mao
was able to win over leadership of the party for a number of reasons, but
the most relevant here was his confidence in the peasantry, and his
compromise in which he still called for a revolution that was proletarian
led, even if the membership was not proletarian dominated. One
noteworthy example was the way he organized the CCP with
“democratic centralism” and the “mass line” in which everyone’s ideas
would ultimately be filtered and controlled by only a small number of
people.41 This compromise, which was one of many before he became
more authoritarian in 1942 during the Rectification Campaign (this will
be discussed further in the following section), led to his becoming the
unquestioned leader of the party and his eliminating of anyone else who
could have led during this time period; this essentially created a
dependency on Mao’s guidance in order to maintain the same
revolutionary fervor that had begun to wane at the outset of the Long
March.
Returning more to the peasantry and masses specifically, though,
“Mao developed a model for revolution that was successful in
encouraging mass peasant support while making clear the revolution
would not be led by the peasantry.”42 Simply, he could only see them as
conservative and difficult to work with,43 but also necessary to win the
revolution.44 Ultimately, even though he wanted to make use of everyone
and had advocated a peasant-centric CCP since nearly the beginnings of
the party, and especially after the White Terror and subsequent collapse
of the First United Front in 1927, Mao remained in the position of having
a proletarian-led revolution.45 Much like a true Marxist, he still viewed
the proletariat as a better choice for revolutionary leadership, because:
The Chinese proletariat is more resolute and
thoroughgoing in revolutionary struggle than any other
class because it is subjugated to a threefold oppression
41
Ibid., 198.
Knight, “Working Class Power and State Formation in Mao Zedong’s
Thought 1931-1934,” 43.
43
Ibid., 30.
44
Ibid., 43.
45
Ibid., 42-43.
42
27
(imperialist, bourgeois, and feudal) which is marked by a
severity and cruelty seldom found in other
countries…the Chinese proletariat came under the
leadership of its own revolutionary party-the Communist
Party of China-and became the most politically
conscious class in Chinese society...the Chinese
proletariat by origin is largely made up of bankrupted
peasants, it has natural ties with the peasant masses,
which facilitated its forming a close alliance with them. 46
While the merits of this philosophy can be debated, the innate
conservativeness of the countryside is an accurate supposition, due in
part to Chiang Kai-shek only extending his direct rule over the cities and
the areas directly surrounding them. Mao picked up on this point early on
and knew that the countryside was where the revolution would ultimately
begin because it could, and would, be used as a base area to organize the
majority of the population into a force to bring communism to the
nation.47 In essence, even though Mao was pragmatic enough to realize
that he needed to rely on the peasantry and the masses to effect
revolutionary change, the title “peasant revolutionary” may not be an
accurate one to assign to him due to his continual support for a
proletarian leadership over them. Ultimately though, the Chinese
Revolution still took on an aura of Mao-centrism, later termed “Mao
Zedong thought” or “Maoism” in Yan’an,48 proving that without Mao,
the CCP likely would not have had the same identity because it had
become dependent on him as their leader.
Even though Mao Zedong chose to live among the peasants
during the revolution, he never truly meshed with them and lived as they
did, which resulted in difficulties in getting them to agree with his
notions of land reform and personal revolutionary ideals. This is a topic
that will be discussed further in the next section. Gandhi, however,
decided upon a Spartan lifestyle and full integration with the peasants.49
“Gandhi had an uncanny, mysterious gift which kept him at all times in
tune with the prevalent feelings and emotions of India's inarticulate
peasants.”50 What made this even more unifying for the Indians was that
Gandhi was from a relatively well-off family and had a decent law career
that he chose to give up in favor of living among the poorer
46
Mao, On Revolution and War, 149.
Ibid., 36.
48
Thomas Kampen, Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, and the Evolution of the Chinese
Leadership (Great Britain: Nordic Institute of Asian Studies, 2000), 108.
49
50
Baldoon Dhingra, “Gandhi and Permanent Revolution,” Internationales
Jahrbuch fur Geschichts- und Geographie- Unterricht 14, (1972): 99.
47
28
Kevin Wheeler
groups/castes,51 all in order to get the general populace involved and to
lift them out of their circumstances. Most importantly, Gandhi held a
similar view of both the peasantry and working class that Mao had in
China.
Comparable to the makeup of the Chinese, the Indian peasantry
made up a majority of the population, and even though the working class
was not as tiny as it was in China, it was still rather small to say the least.
Gandhi advocated that the peasantry should be fully involved in the
political and revolutionary processes and in democracy as a whole, but
must be led by the intellectuals/working class of the country.52 While
Mao would not have openly approved of the leadership of intellectuals as
a class, as was shown when he ordered the execution of liberal
intellectual Wang Shiwei in 1947 during the evacuation of Yan’an,53 he
wholly agreed with the domination by the proletariat and urban working
class over the peasantry, and for the same reasons that Gandhi espoused.
Although Bolshevik ideas spread throughout India after Lenin’s death in
1924, there is no evidence that Gandhi himself was affected by Marxism
or Leninism beyond his saying:
India does not want Bolshevism. The people are too
peaceful to stand anarchy. They will bow to the knee
who restores so called order. Let us recognise the Indian
psychology….The average Mussalman of India is quite
different than the average Mussalman of the other part of
the world. The Hindu is proverbially, almost completely
mild. The Parsi and the Christian love peace more than
strike. Indeed, we have almost made religion subservient
to peace.54
After stating this clear understanding of the Indian people and being
pragmatic enough to mold himself into the preexisting feelings in order
to achieve success in their movement, Gandhi refused to accept
invitations to visit the Soviet Union in the 1920s,55 but the similarity of
his ideals to the underlying concepts of Marxist thought, especially
proletarian dominance over the peasantry, is striking.
In addition, both Gandhi and Mao were anti-imperialists, as
mentioned above, but even though Mao entirely despised imperialism,
Gandhi hated it because he felt that the practice had been perpetuated to
51
52
Dhingra, 99.
53
Schoppa, 287.
54
N. M. P. Srivistava, “Lenin and the Indian Revolutionaries,” United Asia 23,
(1971): 318-319.
55
Ibid.
29
divide and destroy the consciousness of the Indian people.56 As a result,
Gandhi chose to eat frugally and shed a safe home and career in order to
live in the simple dress (he only owned one shirt) and poor sanitary
conditions that the peasants were forced to toil under. He further gained
the admiration of the peasants by trying to restore Indian self-respect57
and by utilizing symbols that would get everyone involved in one way or
another. The Spinning Wheel, which is now on the flag of India, was
used to gain the support of women and promote equality for them,58
(Gandhi understood that “no mass movement could be successful
without the ‘muted’ sections of society” and heavily encouraged female
involvement because they fell into that category.)59 something Mao was
attempting to accomplish as well. This was also aimed at stimulating a
national interest, and nationalism specifically, in Indian cloth over that
which came from England. Their fabric could easily be created by Indian
women on their own spinning wheels with the huge quantities of
domestic cotton, the main reason for Gandhi seeing the imports as
asinine and unnecessary.60 Not doing so, “was to Gandhi's mind a waste
of both substance and opportunities of poor people in a country where
cotton abounded;”61 as a result, he believed that “the dumping down of
foreign cloth in India has reduced millions of my people to pauperism.”62
The term used by Gandhi to describe this was Swadeshi, which roughly
refers to an emphasis on domestic production and consumption, as well
as the rejection of foreign-made goods.63 Furthermore, the famous
violation of the Salt Tax by Gandhi, which everyone suffered from
because salt was one of the few seasonings that Indians could afford and
produce on their own, achieved a mass following that succeeded in
garnering the support of most of the masses.64 Again, most importantly,
the disobedience in choosing to create their own salt despite the ban
encouraged crucial female involvement. These symbols were coined, and
these actions executed, to show the British that they were more than
capable of, and interested in, running their own economy and country.
56
57
Ibid., 105.
58
Ibid.
59
Mohan, “The Jallianwalla Bagh Tragedy and its Impact as a Catalyst of Indian
National Consciousness,” 159.
60
Clifton B. Kroeber, “Theory and History of Revolution,” Journal of World
History 7, no. 1 (1996): 35.
61
Ibid.
62
Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance, 146.
63
D.S. Chauhan, “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Reconstruction,
Revolutionary Thought, and Action Strategy,” Asia Quarterly, no. 1 (1974): 70.
64
Gandhi Non-Violent Resistance, 220.
30
Kevin Wheeler
Gandhi was completely committed to promoting equality and
democracy in India in order to continue keeping mass involvement in the
important events of the country and to facilitate better communication
among the people. As mentioned earlier, Gandhi utilized symbols to not
only engage women in the struggle, but to make them feel included and
consulted in the revolutionary process; and not “ignorant of the prevalent
political situation”65 currently underway. Also, he envisioned a society
that was not necessarily a utopia of collaboration, but one based on the
need for teamwork; not on a government that told everyone what to do.
This led Gandhi to accept a de-centralized democracy because he felt
that industry must work cooperatively with farmers and that society must
not treat any individual as untouchable, 66 two things that having a
centralized democracy like Mao had in China did not do. In essence, he
believed that “individuals and groups must function non-violently
through mutual aid and cooperation”67 to bring about a lasting peace, not
violence and rigid conformity to party doctrine.
This is why much of Gandhi’s ideologies were based on some
level of understanding, compromise, and cooperation. As a result, he felt
it was possible to persuade the British to leave voluntarily through
diplomacy and that it was possible to include everyone in the struggle for
freedom, not just a single class that would simply take over and continue
oppressive policies. Most importantly, he also promoted collaboration
between the Muslims and Hindus, because despite their differences,
Gandhi knew that in order for a revolution to succeed there had to be an
“Indian United Front” of not only the different social classes but also of
the different religions and economic backgrounds.68 As he argued:
"Muslim-Hindu unity must be our creed to last for all time and under all
circumstances."69 With this mass movement, non-violence and peaceful
non-cooperation could be successful; without it, the British would
continue to be able to divide and control the Indian people. In many
ways, Mao and the CCP felt the same way about the necessity of a mass
movement, and this is why they promoted such a diverse coalition
against not only the Japanese and other imperialists, but also the
Nationalist Party during the civil war and World War II.
To both figures, a revolution had to be a popular movement of
the peasantry, led by the proletariat (and also the intellectuals in
Gandhi’s case), that would affect revolutionary change. Without the
unity among the classes and the masses, the revolutionary movement
65
Mohan, “The Jallianwalla Bagh Tragedy and its Impact as a Catalyst of Indian
National Consciousness,” 159.
66
J. B. Kripalani, “Gandhian Though and its Effect on Indian Life,” Cahiers
d’histoire mondiale 5, no. 2 (1959): 411-14.
67
Ibid., 415.
68
69
Ibid.
31
would be less likely to succeed. While class roles were far more strictly
enforced in the Chinese Revolution, the Indians did utilize a loose class
structure because “as it is, the rich are discontented no less than the
poor,” and this alliance was aimed at promoting equality and cooperation
to succeed in the struggle against an occupying force.70 Both of these
men were powerful and innovative coalition builders who were able to
unite their fragmented organizations, despite preexisting notions of who
Mao was during the time period in question. Essentially, the ideals of
Gandhi and Mao embodied their respective revolutions and were
especially applicable above all other alternatives, and this made them
indispensable to their countries, their peoples, their revolutionary
movements, and the contexts of their time in general.
Divergent Pragmatism
This paper will now compare the most divisive characteristic which
delineates Gandhi and Mao, that of advocacy for non-violence and
violence, respectively. While this has been briefly touched upon already,
it will be covered more in-depth here. It is important to note that this
discussion will not be aimed at debating the merits of either ideology, but
will show that even though violence and non-violence are obviously
antithetical, both figures arrived at their philosophies for the same
reason: that their chosen approach was best for their movements, even
though the same reasons led to diverging conclusions. As a result, they
were willing to do whatever was necessary to win power for their
organizations, and did so in order to maneuver into the position of using
any desirable instrument to their advantage. Seeing the two men in this
manner pulls them down from the mythical status assigned to them and
shows who they truly were, pragmatic men who used ideologies which
would foster both unity and support within the confines of their fragile
alliances.
Many people, including a number of Maoists, have viewed
Gandhi’s use of non-violence as a sign of weakness which led to India
remaining in a state of perpetual colonialism modeled on the former
British administration,71 a perspective that is simply not true. “In general,
violent overthrow of the government has been the popular method
adopted by revolutionaries irrespective of their creed, nationality, or
race,”72 but there is no prerequisite that all must be; Gandhi has been the
notable exception to that rule. No two revolutions are the same, because
70
Ibid., 46.
Priyamvada Gopal, “Concerning Maoism: Fanon, Revolutionary Violence,
and Postcolonial India,” South Atlantic Quarterly 1, no. 112 (2013): 121.
72
Chauhan, 69.
71
32
Kevin Wheeler
even if one replicated the same circumstances, there would probably be
different results due to the unpredictability of human nature. Gandhi saw
the need for a “constructive revolution” which would build a new state,
not a destructive one that would delay progress.73 “The constructive
program was an essential component of Gandhian revolutionary struggle
for Indian independence. It was the constructive program which gave
content to the satyagraha framework and applied the Gandhian
principles to the Indian circumstances.”74 Being constructive, rather than
destructive, was a vital piece of the Indian struggle for freedom, and
Gandhi was pragmatic enough to realize this; non-violence was
necessary not only because of the nervous nature of those in their
movement, but also because they did not want to destroy their own
society in the process of gaining independence. Whereas on a base level,
all revolutionary leaders would probably agree with this, most would see
the constructive aspect of the revolution being the result of the
destructive one because it is necessary to destroy in order to create; Mao
would of course agree with this stance. Gandhi, however, felt that the use
of colonial violence against colonizers, in order to free themselves from
the colonizer (the exact idea the Militant Nationalists were advocating),
was an oxymoron and that it would undermine the goals of the Indian
people.75 “Secrecy and terrorism led to demoralisation and wastage,
while Gandhi sought to bring revolution by converting the adversary to
his point of view and enlisting him in the brotherhood of man.”76 This is
why Gandhi cultivated so many relationships with British people living
in South Africa and India, because he did not want to lead an
underground movement, but one that had a moral creed and did things in
the light of day; not in dark alleyways. He essentially believed (and so
did the Indian people of course) that clandestine/armed operations to gain
their freedom would fail, and consequently make it even more difficult to
achieve independence due to the duplication of the death and violence
used by imperialists and colonists.
As a result, it is more appropriate to look upon Gandhi as a
diplomat and social reformer, rather than an outright revolutionary; at
least when one is employing the modern sense of the word. A pivotal
aspect of the revolution for him was to bring the colonizer over to his
way of thinking peacefully, not through direct conflict, and he worked
with the British tirelessly to achieve this goal. In addition, he not only
forced himself, but also convinced all of his followers through careful
deliberation, to practice self-restraint and control when dealing with the
73
Ibid., 70.
Ibid., 71.
75
Nationalists in the 1920’s,” 108-109.
76
Ibid., 108.
74
33
English throughout their everyday lives and during the revolution.77 Due
to this, the word diplomat can be assigned to Gandhi because he wanted
to work within the bounds of the established system in order to be able to
defy and defeat that system.
To Gandhi, non-violence meant “infinite love.”78 The most
accurate way to explain this would be to loosely think of the old Hippy
adage: “Make love, not war.” Gandhi was nowhere near the type of
enemy to the British that Mao was to the Nationalists, and knew that he
could work with them toward an amicable solution that would benefit
both their peoples. He felt, and promoted, the feeling that the British
should not be ashamed to bow out of India, even if it was during the
Second World War. As Gandhi said in June, 1942:
If British Power is withdrawn from India in an orderly
manner, Britain will be relieved of the burden of keeping
peace in India, and at the same time gain in a free India
an ally not in the cause of Empire-because she would
have renounced in toto all her imperial designs-but in
defense, not pretended but wholly real, of human
freedom. 79
This was because even though India would remain neutral, the Allies
would still be allowed to use Indian rail and supply lines to benefit their
war efforts.80 Added to this, even if the Japanese were able to succeed in
their invasion of Indian Territory, they would be non-violently resisted in
the same manner that the British currently were, and this would be
equally effective against them as it had been against the English.81
With regards to the Japanese and allowing India to be a quasisupporter of the British and their allies during the war if they pulled out,
Gandhi actually took the time to acknowledge others’ contributions
against their mutual enemies. Even though he may not have agreed with
either’s ideals, he said the cost that the Russians and Chinese had paid to
fight the Axis powers had been enormous, and he sympathized with their
plight.82 Gandhi disapproved of Japanese aggression as much as anyone
in China, but said that “China never tried any experiment with nonviolence. That the Chinese remained passive for some time is no proof
that it was a non-violent attitude."83 Consequently, their violence against
the Japanese (and others) only caused more pain and suffering, and led to
77
Gandhi, Non-Violent Resistance, 5, 79.
Dhingra, 97.
79
Gandhi, My Appeal to the British, 27.
80
Ibid., 27-28, 31-33, 39.
81
Ibid., 11-15, 20.
82
Ibid., 21.
83
Ibid., 68-69.
78
34
Kevin Wheeler
further suppression during their occupation. While many in India had
grown impatient with the non-violence that Gandhi advocated and
desired quicker results (something similar to the assertiveness of Mao in
China),84 most still agreed that violence, especially when the British were
in a state of war, would get them nowhere and that self-restraint was a
watchword for their success.
This paper has been intentionally general with the exact
terminology that Gandhi employed to describe his ideals because a
thorough discussion of the application of the concepts and ideals
themselves, not the names, would lead to a better understanding of his
beliefs; but some are nevertheless unavoidable, namely, Satyagraha and
ahimsa. For all intents and purposes, these were the words that Gandhi
used in all aspects of his revolution, and the former basically meant a
general focus on the pursuit of truth and firmness while the latter can be
interpreted to mean non-violence.85 All of his followers were required to
take vows of (translated to their English equivalents): truth, nonviolence, chastity, non-possession, fearlessness, palate control, nonstealing, bread-labor, equality of religions, anti-untouchability, and use
of locally made goods.86 To Gandhi, all of these related to truth and were
aimed at making people understand that “man is not capable of knowing
the absolute truth and, therefore not competent to punish;”87 hence, nonviolence and non-cooperation/civil disobedience with laws they found
corrupt and immoral were what was necessary to win the revolution.
Most of this was linked to how Gandhi promoted an allencompassing use of religion as well. Although it is important to reiterate
that he encouraged cooperation between both Muslims and Hindus
(another uncommon belief that Gandhi promoted in the pursuit of unity
for his movement), it is crucial to note that he said that every Satyagrahi
(i.e., a person who practices Satyagraha) must have an unshakeable faith
in God.88 This is because he saw that life persists in the midst of
destruction and violence, and that there must be a higher power and law
than any that humanity could impose.89 All of his ideals and thoughts
were aimed at creating a spirit among the Indian people that would wish
to gain their freedom with minimal bloodshed and in a manner which
was applicable to the mood of the time. India had always been a rather
religious society, but never had a violent revolutionary culture. Gandhi
was one of the few who was truly able to grasp this and be pragmatic
84
Kroeber, 35-36.
Chauhan, 77.
86
87
Ibid., 1-2.
88
Ibid., 364.
89
Ibid., 383.
85
35
enough as to apply his philosophy in a way that would engender mass
popular support.
In contrast, the Chinese people had not necessarily always been
as violent as Gandhi claimed, but had indeed chosen over thousands of
years to use force of arms to remove a dynasty or ruler that had lost its
“mandate of heaven.” This is the exact reason why Gandhi said that
China had never attempted a non-violent solution to a governmental or
imperial problem, and is also the reason why so many people agreed with
Mao’s feelings that a violent revolution was necessary; because it had
become so engrained in the consciousness of the Chinese people.
Consequently, pursuing a course of action which included armed
insurrection was in the best interests of Chinese Communist Party
doctrine.
To succeed in assimilating the support of the people, Mao
pursued what Arif Dirlik has termed the “Sinification of Marxism,” or
the “Marxification of Chineseness.” 90 The ideas of Marx, Engels, and
Lenin were excellent templates for Mao, but his pragmatism made him
realize that it was necessary to gain popular support by having a rural
revolution, as mentioned earlier. This required modifying Marxism to the
Chinese situation, even though the roots that called for a violent upheaval
remained unaltered. Essentially, this became the nationalization of
Marxism in order to give a Chinese identity to the revolution that people
there could relate to.
As Mao saw it, “the seizure of power by armed force, the
settlement of the issue by war, is the central task and the highest form of
revolution. This Marxist-Leninist principle of revolution holds good
universally, for China and for all other countries.”91 This exact concept
was what should be the driving force and central task to any insurrection
as he understood it, and the CCP followed it accordingly. While this may
have fundamentally been more violent than what much of the peasantry
were accustomed to, it does not negate the fact that Mao knew the idea
was already there, he just had to encourage the growth of it. Mao
believed that imperialists, colonizers, or any other type of occupiers in
general would never relinquish their control or lay down their weapons
without the people forcing them to do so with some form of violent
attack.92 Even though the idea that China’s problems could only be
solved through armed force was an integral CCP stance from the
beginnings of the party, Mao was the one who applied it to the peasantry
and not just the urban working class; this made him an important figure
in the eyes of the masses and capable of leading because he had garnered
their support.
90
Dirlik, 188, 199.
Mao, On Revolution and War, 54.
92
Ibid., 68, 74.
91
36
Kevin Wheeler
Furthermore, this adds an additional link to why the topic of land
reform was so important to Mao and the Communists, it was to placate
the peasantry. Taking lands from lords and wealthy land-owners that had
been using it to collect oppressive and impoverishing taxes from the rural
classes (and then to redistribute it among them) would significantly
improve their chances of gaining the trust of China’s masses. By
reallocating the land, the peasants would have more of a say in their
everyday lives and thus would be motivated to follow the CCP in
revolutionary endeavors. Mao’s charisma continued to sell this policy,
and it reaped him a great deal of power and prestige among the masses,
something that no other party member could muster in a comparable
quantity that would have challenged Mao during the revolution.
The arguable culmination of pre-1949 Maoism was the
Rectification Campaign in 1942. Principally, the point of the campaign
was to root out corruption within the party that had surfaced while at
Yan’an, and a great deal of this was done violently.93 Class struggle itself
was advocated by many members of the CCP (Liu Shaoqi being a
noteworthy example)94 and while it was meant to be a way to eliminate
classes altogether and promote a forum in which all members of the party
could express their opinions, it became a battleground for factional
fighting and bitter political division. Mao aimed the Rectification
Campaign at destroying the contradictions within the party caused from
this and to forcefully reform the new wave of recruits received as a result
of the Mass Exodus from the urban areas during the Japanese invasion to
make sure they were more in line with party doctrine. To do this, he
departed from the conservative and pragmatic land reform policies that
the CCP had been utilizing before toward radical ones that were intended
to force the peasantry to adapt to Mao’s thinking, instead of the other
way around. There was vicious backlash from this shift to immediate
change, as opposed to the moderate program the peasants had been
accustomed to, and this caused Mao to realize that he had to re-adapt his
ideals to better suit the people once again. After learning from his
mistakes, Mao reasserted his pragmatism in the mid-1940s; had he not
done so, he could have lost a great deal of support, and the movement
may well have faltered. This event, nevertheless, marked the point where
Mao began to move away from his pre-1949 realism. Afterwards, he
indeed became the devoted advocate of class struggle in the People’s
Republic of China period which people remember him for, and have
chosen to incorrectly apply to his entire life. This exact illusion is the one
in which this paper has been attempting to dispel.
93
Yinghong Cheng, Creating the "New Man": From Enlightenment Ideals to
Socialist Realities (Honolulu: University of Hawai’i Press, 2008), 65.
94
Wm. Theodore de Bary and Richard Lufrano, Sources of Chinese Tradition
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2000), 435-441.
37
This is why Mao continued to promote a theory that called for
continuous revolution (as can be seen in the Cultural Revolution of 19661976)95 after this campaign, and this was an essential extension of the
idea that rectification of the party was necessary, all in order to make
sure that the revolution would continue advancing with the people and be
on-going to deny individuals the possibility of becoming lax with
Communist philosophy. Surprisingly, Gandhi also advocated “permanent
revolution,” but it was only aimed at adapting to the everyday changes of
Indian society to make sure that the revolution would not remain static,96
rather than attempting to enforce some dogma over a prolonged period of
time. Mao and Gandhi understood the necessity in this period to not only
adjust their ideologies to better suit their environments and then to
advocate for them, but both men also grasped that they had to continue
the revolution in spirit after it was physically over, because the task of
nation-building would then begin in the aftermath of the
withdrawal/defeat of an occupier or subversive governing body.
A Pragmatic Post-Mortem
Mao became preoccupied with the constant need for violent upheaval,
both during and after the revolution. He saw a future for his people that
included a destruction of any last vestige of colonialism or oppression, as
well as a lasting society that was devoid of the kinds of classes that could
potentially promote capitalism and endorse a return to the Nationalist
Party’s decadence. Mao believed in mass participation in politics and
complete conformity to party doctrine and ideals. Additionally, he was a
charismatic individual who was able to win over leadership of the party
and guide the CCP, and the revolution, in a direction which would follow
a modified Marxian framework that was spearheaded by a desire for
violent, rapid, and immediate change to their present circumstances.
Although he may have left his pre-1949 pragmatism by the wayside once
he gained power, he undeniably made realistic contributions to their
movement before the PRC was founded.
Gandhi, likewise, was an anti-imperialist who longed for the day
when the Indian people would no longer live under British rule and could
manage their own affairs. He also believed in involving everyone in the
society, including those from every caste and religious background. This
was aimed at creating an atmosphere of internal cooperation first in order
to be able to cooperate with England and convince them to leave their
country. Unlike Mao, Gandhi and the Indian people were non-violent,
and he adjusted his ideology to better suit that reality. Even though it is
95
96
Ibid., 474.
Dhingra, 99-100.
38
Kevin Wheeler
difficult to discern if Gandhi would have also abandoned his pragmatic
nature after independence, because of his assassination, it seems unlikely
that would have been the case with his long record of non-violence and
peaceful non-cooperation up to that date.
Simply put, even though the nature and beliefs of the Indian and
Chinese freedom organizations toward the type of revolution required
were completely different, they were both led by men capable of working
with the people at the peasant level and who amended their ideas and
thoughts to better conform to the feelings of that class. Without the
presence of these two figures, the Indian and Chinese revolutions would
have had radically different ideologies, as no other person could have
taken their place and fostered the same kind of revolutionary fervor and
cooperation which Mao and Gandhi’s pragmatism were capable of
creating. Even though there were others who led at various points during
the revolutions, most were either unwilling or unable to adapt to what the
general mood of the time required, and chose instead to pursue a
philosophy that the majority could not rally behind. Furthermore, even
though each group had other important leaders (because no one person
can lead a movement on his/her own), such as the examples of
Jawaharlal Nehru and Zhou Enlai who were mentioned in the
introduction to this paper, these other leaders were dwarfed by Gandhi
and Mao and came to be men who worked behind-the-scenes instead of
in the forefront.
Whether Nehru or Zhou could have taken over and become the
figures that Mao and Gandhi were in the event of their deaths or
absences before independence is pure speculation. It does raise
interesting questions, however, about whether the two men explored in
this paper were absolutely vital to their revolutions, or just that the
people had become psychologically dependent on them, because they
had adapted to what the country needed when no other person had been
able to in a comparable fashion. This may well be a topic which can be
explored further and would shed additional light on these two figures, but
it outside the purview of this examination.
Mao Zedong and Mohandas Gandhi, nevertheless, personified
their revolutions because the masses came to rely on them as their
respective leaders as time passed and when no other person rose to
challenge them with a comparable pragmatism or ideology which would
have competed with the popularity of theirs. Although it is an easy
exercise to say that they were the only people who could have led the
Chinese and Indian revolutions, this argument cannot be substantiated.
As this paper argued, however, they did come to characterize their
movements and were the only ones able to adapt their beliefs, in the
same way and at the same time, to the atmosphere present in their
country’s revolutionary alliances. This resulted in Mao and Gandhi
becoming integral figures in the minds of their people, hence the
39
mythical status which has been assigned to them, and explains why this
paper tried to bring them down from that pedestal and see them for who
they were, revolutionary pragmatists.
40
Kevin Wheeler
Bibliography
Primary Sources:
Ch’en, Jerome. Mao and the Chinese Revolution. New York:
Oxford University Press, 1967.
De Bary, Wm. Theodore and Richard Lufrano, Sources of Chinese
Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 2000.
Gandhi, Mohandas. An Autobiography: The Story of MyExperiments with
Truth. Boston: Beacon Press, 1957.
--------. My Appeal to the British. Edited by Anand T. Hingorani. New
York: John Day Company, 1942.
--------. Non-Violent Resistance. New York: Schocken Books, 1961.
Mao Tse-Tung. On the Protracted War. Peking: People’s
Publishing House/Foreign Language Press, 1960.
--------. On Revolution and War. Edited by M. Rejai. Garden City,
New York: Doubleday and Company Inc., 1969.
Snow, Edgar. Red Star Over China. New York: Grove Press Inc.,
1968.
White, Theodore H., and Annalee Jacoby. Thunder out of China. USA:
Da Capo Press, Inc., 1980.
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Blackey, Robert and Clifford Paynton. Revolution and the
Revolutionary Ideal. Cambridge, Massachusetts:
Schenkman Publishing Company, 1976.
Chauhan, D. S. “Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi: Reconstruction,
Revolutionary Thought, and Action Strategy.” Asia
Quarterly, no. 1 (1974): 65-79.
Cheng, Yinghong. Creating the “New Man”: From Enlightenment
Ideals to Socialist Realities. Honolulu: University of
Hawai’i Press, 2009.
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Chung, Tan. “Chinese History and the Chinese Revolution: On the
Dynamism of Marxism and Mao Zedong Thought.” China
Report 26, no. 1 (1990): 3-22.
Ditmer, Lowell. “Mao and the Politics of Revolutionary Morality.”
Asian Survey 27, no. 3 (1987): 316-39.
Dirlik, Arif. “The Predicament of Marxist Revolutionary
Consciousness: Mao Zedong, Antonio Gramsci, and the
Reformulation of Marxist Revolutionary Theory.” Modern
China 9, no. 2 (1983): 182-211.
Dhingra, Baldoon, “Gandhi and Permanent Revolution.”
Internationales Jahrbuch fur Geschichts- und GeographieUnterricht 14, (1972): 95-109.
Farber, Samuel. “Violence and Material Class Interests: Fanon and
Gandhi.” Journal of Asian and African Studies 16, no. 3/4
(1981): 196-211.
Gopal, Priyamvada. “Concerning Maoism: Fanon, Revolutionary
Violence, and Postcolonial India.” South Atlantic
Quarterly 1, no. 112 (2013): 115-28.
Juergensmeyer, Mark. Gandhi’s Way A Handbook of Conflict
Resolution. USA: University of California Press, 2002.
Kampen, Thomas. Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai and the Evolution of
the Chinese Communist Leadership. Great Britain: Nordic
Institute of Asian Studies, 2000.
Knight, Nick. “Mao Zedong and the Peasants: Class and Power in
the Formation of a Revolutionary Strategy.” China Report
40, no. 1 (2004): 49-76.
--------. “Working Class Power and State Formation in Mao Zedong's
Thought, 1931-1934.” Journal of Contemporary Asia 32, no. 1
(2002): 29-46.
Kroeber, Clifton B. “Theory and History of Revolution.” Journal
of World History 7, no. 1 (1996): 21-40.
Kripalani, J. B. “Gandhian Thought and its Effect on Indian Life.”
Cahiers d’histoire mondiale 5, no. 2 (1959): 402-20.
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Meisner, Maurice. “Leninism and Maoism: Some Populist
Perspectives on Marxism- Leninism in China.” The China
Quarterly, no. 45 (1971): 2-36.
Mohan, Kamlesh. “An Assessment of Ghandian Attitudes towards
Militant Nationalists in 1920’s.” The Quarterly Review of
Historical Studies 18, no. 2 (1978): 103-11.
--------. “The Jallianwalla Bagh Tragedy and its Impact as a Catalyst of
Indian National Consciousness.” International Journal of Punjab
Studies 3, no. 2 (1996): 151-180.
Scalapino, Robert A. “The Evolution of a Young RevolutionaryMao Zedong in 1919-1921.” The Journal of Asian Studies
42, no. 1 (1982): 29-61.
Schoppa, R. Keith. Revolution and Its Past: Identities and Change in
Modern Chinese History. New Jersey: Pearson/Prentice Hall,
2010.
Srivistava, N. M. P. “Lenin and the Indian Revolutionaries.”
United Asia 23, no. 5 (1971) 311-20.
43
Author Bio
Kevin Wheeler served as Chief Editor of this year’s volume of History in
the Making. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from California State
University, San Bernardino in March, 2014, and holds a Bachelor of Arts
in History, with a European History Emphasis. Kevin intends to obtain a
Single Subject Credential as a graduate student at CSUSB, and teach at
the High School level. In the future, he plans to obtain an M.A. and PhD,
and become a university professor. He has journeyed to France, Italy,
England, and Ireland, and desires to continue traveling to the continent
which has become such a part of his studies. Though his work in this
journal is not in his specific field of study, he believes Mao Zedong and
Mohandas Gandhi embody the mythical status historians have placed
upon many historical figures; and are useful tools in dispelling that
illusion throughout the world. Kevin wishes to extend his gratitude to Dr.
Robert Blackey, who has not only consistently challenged him to become
a better writer and historian, but also was pivotal in his role as Chief
Editor. Dr. Blackey’s inspiration as Kevin’s adviser in past years has
been vital to his educational successes, and both Dr. Murray and Dr.
Keating have also been continually helpful. Additionally, Kevin would
like to thank his family for their continued support in his academic
career, and his girlfriend, Riley Pate, for always being the caring and
wonderful woman she is.
44
Richard Butler
The Goose-Step is Only Functional for Geese: Perspective
on the Intentionalist/Functionalist Debate on Nazi
Germany and the Holocaust, and its Implications for
Humanity’s Advancement through Modernity
By Richard A. Butler
Abstract: This article aims to examine the nuances of both the
Intentionalist and Functionalist perspectives as they relate to Nazi
Germany and the Holocaust. While acknowledging the ongoing debate
between the two ideological camps, a new perspective is suggested as
being a more appropriate means to understanding the event. This new
perspective is heavily influenced by the research done by authors such as
Timothy Snyder, Donald Bloxham and Christopher Browning. The
research conducted suggests that instead of the two perspectives
competing for prominence, a synthetic approach is more effective in
analyzing Nazi Germany and the resulting atrocities. The new
perspective is labeled as modified Intentionalist in the article, a
perspective which asserts that the intentions of leadership created a
society of functionaries, and with this realization, a more comprehensive
understanding of the subject matter can be gained. Secondary to the
examination of the perspectives, the article also offers commentary on
what implications Nazi Germany has had on humanity’s progression
through modernity.
Introduction
Does modernity bring out the worst in men, or do men bring out the
worst in modernity? Modernity and the so-called “enlightenment” of
humanity seems to have removed what it truly means to be human; its
force has introduced systems like capitalism (which is a greatly
successful economic ideology), but it propagates the loss of our basic
humanity. In modernity, we see the objectification on ourselves as
individuals moving increasingly towards becoming a statistic of some
sort. The diminishment of society’s humanity towards one another is a
key contributor which has led to the phenomenon of nationalism, which
seeks to mobilize groups of people who identify with each other for a
common national goal at the expense of individualism. This new found
power of modernity and nationalism was heavily utilized by the Nazi
45
The Goose Step is only Functional for Geese
party, and Hitler in particular. Hitler had the profound ability to orate,
and motivated masses into fervent support of such a radically destructive
ideology. How he was able to harness this power has been cause for
energetic debate, especially in the newer generation of scholarship on
Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. The traditional school of thought, the
Intentionalist argument, asserts that in basic theory everything flowed
through Hitler and he was solely responsible; however, the Functionalist
approach argues that Hitler was not as paramount and it was society’s ills
that caused the calamity. Simply, the truth is that neither of these
approaches is sufficient for explaining the complexities of Nazi
Germany’s policy, and it is advantageous to view Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust through a modified Intentionalist lens in order to gain a more
complete understanding.
In the most simplistic analysis of the arguments on what the real
cause behind the success of the Nazi ideology in Germany and the
subsequent eugenically inspired conquest of Europe, the first inclination
is to support the Intentionalist faction. The correlation between espoused
ideology and action is undeniable (that much is sure), which is the
primary reason behind touting a “modified Intentionalist” perspective
versus a “modified Functionalist.” Operating under an Intentionalist
umbrella helps reign in a sprawling Functionalist ideology, which seeks
to explain Nazi Germany and the Holocaust through an abstraction. With
the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, the Functionalist approach places the
lion’s share of blame on a deeply anti-Semitic society that had permeated
not only Germany, but the European continent. Anti-Semitism was
undeniably present in society before the Nazis came to power, however,
the presence of anti-Semitism does not automatically vindicate the
Functionalist perspective. Just because societal norms loaded the
proverbial gun, does not mean that societal norms pulled the trigger,
because it still needed its hit man. That hit man was none other than
Adolf Hitler, but, before delving too far into the
Intentionalist/Functionalist debate, it is important to lay the ground work,
and to examine how one of the greatest tragedies in human history came
to be realized.
While traditional Functionalism is largely a defunct perspective
on how to view Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, the more progressive
Functionalism that is espoused by historians such as Donald Bloxham
and Timothy Snyder radically shift the perspective to understand the
phenomenon in a revolutionary fashion. Bloxham’s analysis in The Final
Solution: A Genocide explores the idea that in order to comprehend Nazi
Germany and subsequent genocide, scholars must expand the historical
vision of the subject. His main argument is that the “shatter zones”
created by the collapse of the Romanov, Ottoman, and Hapsburg
Empires set off a series of genocidal incidents on the European continent
and that the Holocaust was a genocide in a series of outbreaks caused by
46
Richard Butler
these shatter zones. Snyders’ analysis focuses on enhancing the spatial
understanding of Nazi Germany focusing on the “bloodlands” between
Germany and Russia. This spatial perspective aids in understanding why
Hitler put such an emphasis on expanding East, especially when
subsequent failure to so do led to the accelerated progression of the Final
Solution as alternatives dwindled and industrialized killing was utilized.
Both Snyder and Bloxham offer refreshingly new Functional
perspectives which have reaffirmed the perspectives’ validity, but only as
a complementary faction to the overarching Intentionalist side.
One important fact to realize is that anti-Semitism was not a
philosophy exclusive to the Nazis, and had long been present on the
European continent before they assumed power. This is why Hitler knew
that anti-Semitism was a popular and pre-existing sentiment in Germany.
Thomas Fuchs asserts that “it is true that anti-Semitism was generally
popular and therefore eminently serviceable as a Nazi rallying point and
on at least one occasion Hitler admitted that had there been no Jews, it
would have been necessary to invent them. ‘It is essential,’ he said, ‘to
have a tangible enemy, not merely an abstract one.’”1 If we accept that
Hitler was a revolutionary figure in the German political landscape, we
must ask the question: what was the spark that lit the revolutionary fire?
The answer for Germany is born from the aftermath of World War I. As
a result of the crippling sanctions placed on Germany by the Versailles
treaty, the subsequent government thrust Germany into a state of
immense dysfunction. The treaty was constructed in such a way that the
allies sought to attribute blame to Germany for the devastation of World
War I. Along with Germany having to admit guilt, the treaty imposed
paralyzing sanctions which limited Germany’s ability to militarize and
called for them to bear the cost of reconstruction in the form of
reparations. These sanctions, particularly the economic ones, were aimed
to keep Germany as weak as possible, but what the Allies did not
anticipate was the unintended consequences of such a heavy handed
“peace” treaty.
Even though the treaty was begrudgingly signed by Germany, it
took on a heavily punitive and harsh characteristic, as prescribed by the
French and English parties. Thus, the French and English achieved what
they desired and the treaty had the intended effect: Germany’s economy
was thrust into a tailspin. The treaty was successful in its aim, but often
times it is the unanticipated reaction that sparks an uncontrollable fire;
such was the case in post-World War I Germany. The effects of the
treaty led to a growing disenfranchised poor, whose blame was levied at
the inept Weimar Republic leadership and meddlesome outsiders. This is
the precise environment that becomes a breeding pool for revolutions and
1
Thomas Fuchs, A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler (New York: The Berkley
Publishing Group, 2000), 164.
47
revolutionaries alike; it was the environment that gave birth to possibly
the most infamous revolutionary in history, Adolf Hitler. Hitler, in
response to the Treaty of Versailles and its effects on Germany, asserted
in his Secret Book:
the source of a people’s whole power does not lie in its
possession of weapons of in the organization of its army,
but in its inner value which is represented through racial
significance, that is racial value of a people as such,
through the existence of the highest individual
personality values as well as through healthy attitude
toward the idea of self-preservation.2
Hitler’s reasoning places the impetus not on the physically tangible but
on the socially constructed concept of race and the supposed superiority
of the German. Buttressing his assertions in what would be a reoccurring
theme in Hitler rationale, every ill to society was to be burdened by the
racially inferior. Though he does not directly blame the Jews for the
treaty this instance, the Jews are behind most, if not all, of the ills of
society in Hitler’s mind.
Hitler used the treaty and its aftermath as a lightning rod to
garner support from the lower classes which were the most affected by
the failing economy. He was a political genius in this sense, and was able
to penetrate and mobilize a power bloc that had rarely been utilized. The
key to this strategy was his ability to calibrate ideology in a way that it
united and mobilized the formerly neglected. Hitler was able to do this
through the networking of Nazi ideology, by promoting the National
Socialism to the working classes who were being crushed under the
weight of the economic sanctions prescribed in the Treaty of Versailles.
Hitler’s target audience largely dictated how he would utilize the
platform of National Socialism to suit those receiving it. “Adolf Hitler
and his party, the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP).
The prime motive was…the party’s promise to restore the lower-middle
class to its former assured position.”3
Hitler gained notoriety in his movement for his direct leadership
in the attempted coup known as the Beerhall Putsch in Munich, an event
that would canonize Hitler in the Nazi movement. While in prison for
high treason, he capitalized on his increased prominence in the Nazi
movement wrote his famous manifesto, Mein Kampf or My Struggle. In
this rambling diatribe, Hitler blamed all of Germany’s many economic
2
Adolf Hitler, Hitler’s Secret Book (New York: Grove Press, 1961), 27.
Richard F. Hamilton, "Hitler's Electoral Support: Recent Findings and
Theoretical Implications," The Canadian Journal of Sociology/Cahiers
canadiens de sociologie 11, no. 1 (1986): 1.
3
48
Richard Butler
problems on the treaty and Jewish influence, by accusing Jews of being
subversive, and ultimately noting that the Jews were the reason for the
popularity of Marxism. This is in addition to the myriad of Germany’s
hardships following its defeat in World War I.4
Unlike most other revolutionaries throughout history, Hitler’s
revolution was not primarily driven by violence, it was based in ideology
and garnering support from the lower classes of society. Hitler knew that
simply getting up on the podium was not enough to convince the entire
country that his ideals were the best way forward; he took a more
pragmatic approach to garner support. He had to identify himself as
someone who was part of the movement, not above it; using this tactic
Hitler was able to get his targeted power bloc to accept his ideological
philosophy organically. It was this approach to propagating his
revolutionary ideals that essentially launched Hitler into a Messiah-like
position amongst his followers. Hitler was able to harness the sentiment
of his followers and the economic environment of Germany to facilitate
his slow-burning progression to ultimate power. Hitler’s ascent to power
was not born from blood, but a marked progression through the
established political system.
With Hitler firmly cemented in party leadership, it is now time to
move on to the ideology that propelled him to the precipice of society.
Nazi ideology, from the beginning, was an extremely right-wing
philosophy, and was at heart resolutely anti-Semitic. Even though Hitler
is inextricably linked to Nazism, he was not its founder; he latched onto
its platforms and then once he occupied a prominent position he shifted
the ideology. Under his leadership, it became more internalized in Hitler
himself, and thus “Nazism’s uniqueness was Hitler, no less. Nazism was
Hitlerism, pure and simple.”5 This shift to an ideology that was so
beholden to one man is largely the reason Hitler became a Messianic
figure and Mein Kampf became its holy book. Mein Kampf attempts to
diagnose the problems that affected German society, per Hitler’s
perspective. Through racial axioms; he emphasizes the superiority of the
Aryans in the face of Jews. Hitler’s rationale in racism is obviously selfserving, but is assumed that his rationale had almost scientific certainty;
“The result of all racial crossing is therefore in brief always the
following: (a) Lowering of the level of the higher race; (b) Physical and
intellectual regression and hence the beginning of a slowly but surely
progressing sickness.”6 Hitler later appelaed to people’s intrinsic instinct
to rid themselves of parasites, and frequently referred to the Jews as
such. So much so, that it is a chapter title, in which Hitler states:
4
Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, (New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999), 37-65.
Ian Kershaw, "Hitler and the Uniqueness of Nazism," Journal of
Contemporary History 39, no. 2 (2004): 242.
6
Hitler, Mein Kampf, 286
5
49
The Jew’s life as a parasite in body of other nations and states
explains a characteristic which once caused Schopenhauer, as
has already been mentioned, to call him the ‘great master in
lying.’ Existence impels the Jews to lie, and to lie perpetually,
just as it compels the inhabitants of the northern countries to
wear warm clothing.7
Hitler was intent on ensuring that anti-Semitism was ingrained, and that
it would progress in intensity throughout his political career. Mein Kampf
was only one of the early steps in establishing a fervent ideology based
largely on racial superiority and the castigation of Jews.
Initially, after his seizure of power, Germany did not have
codified laws which marginalized the Jews, however, the Jews were still
discriminated against on the basis of the “unwritten laws” implied by the
now official German ideology. Any ambiguity that may have existed in
the Third Reich was erased September 15, 1935, when the Nuremburg
Laws were legitimized; the marginalization of the Jews was cemented
legally into Nazi society. The Nuremburg Laws consist of the Reich
Citizenship Law, which includes the statute: A citizen of the Reich is that
subject only who is of German or kindred blood and who, through his
conduct, shows that he is both desirous and fit to serve the German
People and Reich faithfully. While Jews are not explicitly mentioned in
the statutes that constitute the Reich Citizenship laws, they are the
primary aim nonetheless. In order to solidify this point, however, the
second law, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German
Honor, was adopted. The statutes of the aforementioned law prohibits:
marriage between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood, sexual
relations outside marriage between Jews and nationals of German or
kindred blood, Jewish employment of German or kindred blood under
forty-five years of age as domestic servants, and Jews from displaying
Reich and national flags or the national colors.8
While the Nuremburg laws did not call for violence against Jews
explicitly, the laws were a profound step in the progression towards the
Final Solution, even if in 1935 the Final Solution as we know it had not
yet been conceived. The Nuremburg laws set a distinct precedent for
Nazi Germany, one that established that Hitler’s anti-Semitic rhetoric
was not merely talking points on a campaign; they were words with
weight that would find their foothold in the policies of Nazi Germany.
Post-Nuremburg laws Germany would follow a progression in intensity
of anti-Jewish policies, which Christopher Browning chronicles in the
7
Ibid., 305.
"The Nuremburg Laws," last modified March 11, 2009,
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/nurlaws.html.
8
50
Richard Butler
progressive marginalization of Jews through measures that restricted
their access to society: 1939 saw radios confiscated, ’40 private
telephones, ’42 the ability to purchase newspapers and magazines. The
Nazis also sought to economically cripple the Jewish population through
a multitude of policies, beginning in 1938, which progressively restricted
the Jews’ ability maintain themselves.9 The progression of the malicious
anti-Semitic laws towards the ever evolving Final Solution to the Jewish
Question lends to a somewhat functional understanding of the
catastrophe often associated with Nazi Germany. The intent for the
destruction of the Jews, however, coupled with the environment of Nazi
Germany, suggests that the functionaries were created by ideological
intent.
Demystifying Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
There is no questioning the gravity of disaster that surrounds Nazi
Germany and the Holocaust, but it is necessary to remove and overcome
the significant stigma surrounding such a momentous event in human
history. As scholars, it is necessary to break it down and analyze it for its
reality, rather than be enamored by its aura; in order to provide a purer
understanding of the stakes and progression of Nazi Germany. From this
perspective, it is vital to understand how the Nazi policy, which was
normatively hostile towards Jews and other undesirables, progressed
from discrimination to destruction. In order to understand this, a variety
of issues must be explored: whether the the policies of Nazi Germany,
Operation Barbarossa and conquest, economics, or the Final Solution
itself are at fault.
It is of central importance to understand not just how the Final
Solution evolved into what we now know it became, but to peel back the
layers even more to see why such violent policies were allowed by the
public to be enacted. Kershaw attributes this progression to indifference:
…depersonalization of the Jew had been the real success
story of the Nazi propaganda and policy…the ‘Jewish
Question’ was of no more than minimal interest to the
vast majority of Germans during the war years…Popular
opinion, largely indifferent and infuse with latent antiJewish feeling further bolstered by propaganda provided
the climate within which spiraling Nazi aggression
towards the Jews could take place unchallenged. But it
9
Christopher R. Browning, The Origins of The Final Solution: The Evolution of
Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942 (Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 2004), 173.
51
did not provoke the radicalization in the first place…the
road to Auschwitz was built by hatred, but paved with
indifference.10
While Kershaw is correct in the sense that indifference was a major
factor in the road to atrocity, indifference does not explain just how the
Nazis were able to gain so much political capital to enforce these policies
with expected indifference of the German population. The basis of this
obscene indifference was born from the initial success of the Nazi party;
following the reasoning that successes are veneration of ideology,
Bloxham’s analysis echoes this sentiment when he states: “Hitler
achieved huge popularity in the mid-1930s as a result of general
improvement in the German economy and bloodless foreign policy
triumphs, and that was certainly a key factor in increased public
acceptance of Nazi domestic programmes.”11
Hitler knew that he had to gain the general public’s favor before
launching into the radical destructive policies that would define his final
years in power. He nevertheless mused about the destruction of the Jews
early on in his secret book (which was never published during his life),
where he stated “In view of the endowment of Jewry, which after all is
only destructive, it will operate even here only as the historical ‘ferment
of decomposition.’ It has summoned to its help spirits of which it can no
longer rid itself, and the struggle of the inwardly anti-state Pan-Slav idea
against the Bolshevist Jewish state idea will end with the destruction of
Jewry.”12 Hitler knew the political power of utilizing the so-called
“other,” and knew that if he overplayed his hand he could very well lose
control of the power he had procured. It is also fair to assume that he was
aware that he needed the political capital gained by success to be the
catalyst of the progression to the Final Solution, as he found out when
everything was falling apart in the Third Reich. His failures in the war
became apparent to all those who had been disillusioned by propaganda
when:
The Belarusian Front of the Red Army began to shell
Berlin on 20 April 1945, Hitler’s birthday, by early May
it had met the Ukrainian Front in the German capital.
Berlin fell and the war was over. Hitler had ordered
subordinates to apply a scorched earth policy to
Germany itself, but he was not obeyed. Although much
10
Ian Kershaw, Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich:
Bavaria 1933-1945 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002), 277.
11
Donald Bloxham, The Final Solution: A Genocide (Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2009), 149.
12
Hitler, Hitler’s Secret Book, 139.
52
Richard Butler
young German life was wasted in the defense of Berlin,
Hitler could effect no further policies of mass killing.13
The tightrope of extremist ideology was fundamentally tied to the
success of the state; Hitler’s early successes essentially validated the
radical Nazi ideology, but as Germany was crumbling around him,
Hitler’s mandate on influence rapidly deteriorated along with the
country.
In order to gain a more honest understanding of Nazi Germany
and the Holocaust, we must peel back the shroud of Auschwitz and
recognize that the story does not begin and end in what has become the
harrowing symbol of Nazi atrocity. The fact of the matter is that the
implications were much larger than what occurred at Auschwitz. It is not
that big of a stretch that most people assume that the concentration
camps in Germany which often characterize the Holocaust were where
the highest body counts were collected. This, however, is untrue as “the
German prisoner-of-war camps in the East were far deadlier than the
German concentration camps. Indeed the existing concentration camps
changed their character upon contact with prisoners of war.”14 For
conventional knowledge of the legacy of Nazi Germany, the realization
that while the concentration camps were horrible, they were not the be
all, end all, of Nazi atrocity. This is a new, important concept, which
Donald Bloxham and Timothy Snyder, have developed.
Bloxham and Snyder alike are able to demystify Nazi Germany
and the Holocaust largely through a spatial understanding of the events
that occurred during the Nazi reign. Bloxham, however, diverts into a
more functional position by using history of the region as the shifting
point for explaining The Final Solution. What makes this spatial
understanding so important to gaining a full understanding of the entire
episode is that it allows us to see a tangible progression of ideology and
the functionaries created by the intentions of party. Even while most of
the killings associated with the Nazi regime were committed outside the
camps, another important aspect to understand about the Holocaust and
how it was situated spatially, is that most of it happened outside of
Germany proper. “Most of the killing of Jews after 1939 happened
outside Germany and away from the eyes of most Germans; most of the
victims were not German nationals, meaning there were few residual
bonds of connectedness between the groups; genocide happened while
Germany was at war, with all of the introspection and bifurcation of the
world into ‘friends’ and ‘enemies’ that that context brings.”15 The area of
13
Timothy Snyder, Bloodlands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin (New York:
Basic Books, 2010), 311.
14
Ibid., 183.
15
Bloxham, 154.
53
Europe in which most of the killings took place, whether in the
concentration camps or as a result of Germany’s conquest of Eastern
Europe, Snyder appropriately labels, the “bloodlands” for the sheer
amount of destruction of human life by Hitler and Stalin.
Although it would be too simplistic to describe the Eastern
conquest by the Germans as purely one to rid Europe of the Jews, Hitler
did know just how useful a tool they were in garnering support for an allout eugenically inspired conquest of undesirables. “Nazism was a
ceaselessly dynamic system that needed conflict, enemies, and ‘inferiors’
to justify its own ideology, and would always find more people to fight
and kill.”16 This sentiment largely defines Operation Barbarossa (the
codename for the German invasion of the Soviet Union) and how the
events played out in the East, as Jews were the catalyst for conquest; the
Nazis proceeded in eliminating ethnic Poles and Russians in their
conquest. The pall of the Holocaust distorts the fact that “German plans
envisioned even more killing. Hitler wanted not only to eradicate the
Jews; he wanted to also destroy Poland and the Soviet Union as states,
exterminate their ruling classes, and kill tens of millions of Slavs.”17
Equally important to realizing the complexity of the Nazi motivation for
conquest was that it was not merely to remove the undesirables from
existence. Hitler knew that Germany could not remain dependent on
itself within its set borders, especially if it was to fight a war of great
proportions. Thus, the conquest of the East was a form of Imperialistic
expansion.
Economics were equally as important to Hitler as the conquest of
the East and the ethnic cleansing that took place during those invasions.
The two main targets for Hitler were Russia and the Ukraine. The
motivation behind going after Russia was that “Hitler wanted Germany,
as he put it, to be ‘the most autarkic state in the world.’ Defeating Britain
was not necessary for this. Defeating the Soviet Union was. In January
1941, Hitler told the military command that the ‘immense riches’ of the
Soviet Union would make Germany ‘unassailable.’”18 Russia was a
primary target because of the many resources it possessed, namely oil.
The impetus placed on Ukraine by the Nazi brass, Hitler included, was
paramount.
The German army general staff concluded in an August
study that Ukraine was ‘agriculturally and industrially
the most valuable part of the Soviet Union.’ Herbert
Backe, the responsible civilian planner, told Hitler in
January 1941 that ‘the occupation of Ukraine would
16
Ibid., 24.
Snyder, ix.
18
Ibid., 159.
17
54
Richard Butler
liberate us from every economic worry.’ Hitler wanted
Ukraine ‘so that no one is able to starve us again, like in
the last war’…in the long run, the Nazis’ Generalplan
Ost involved seizing farmland, destroying those who
farmed it, and settling it with Germans.19
Propaganda may have suggested that the main underpinnings of
Operation Barbarossa were racially based, but it is more than abundantly
clear that racism was primarily a sales pitch and side effect of German
assault on the East.
Despite Operation Barbarossa’s initial success, it is widely
known for its phenomenal failure and subsequent importance as the
turning point for the Nazi war machine. More than its failure, though,
was what it meant to the Nazi state and the Jewish Question. Hitler’s
prophecy, one that centers on faulting the Jews because: “‘the world war
is here,’ Hitler told some comrades on 12 December 1941; ‘the
annihilation of Jewry must be the necessary consequence.’ From that
point forward his most important subordinates understood their task: to
kill all the Jews wherever possible…Jews were now blamed for the
looming disaster that could not be named.”20 This was the key pivot point
in the course to the Final Solution. Previous plans had included
deportations to places like Madagascar, which was one of the favored
locations early on in the evolution of the Final Solution. “What might
appear from a post-Holocaust perspective as a centrally planned and
uniformly applied pattern of stigmatization, dispossession, concentration
and annihilation was in the first months of Operation Barbarossa an
incoherent, locally and regionally varied sequence of measures
characterized on the part of German officials by increasing violence and
its acceptance as normality in ‘the east.’”21 Acknowledging that the Final
Solution was not some stone cast monolithic entity from its inception,
but the result of the chaos that pervaded Nazi ideology, aids in breaking
down the barriers of the enormous stigma surrounding the event. This
leads us into determining what drove Nazi Germany into the annals of
history and begs the question: was it the intent of ideology or the
function of society?
Intentionalist/Functionalist Debate
Make no mistake, the responsibility for the myriad of atrocities
committed by the Nazi party is held in the hands of Hitler himself and
19
Ibid., 161.
Snyder, 214.
21
Browning, 259.
20
55
the upper echelon of the Nazi party. While that is clearly the case, some
argue that the actions of the Nazi party were merely the next step in
advancing the deep rooted anti-Semitism in Europe, in essence,
removing the impetus of Hitler’s direct involvement in the process. This
stance is dangerously irresponsible when trying to explain just why the
Holocaust was allowed to take place. By removing Hitler and the
ideology that he represented as the sole cause of the Holocaust, the
enormity of what transpired is significantly diminished, which is a
dangerous sentiment that comes to light when looking at genocides
through a Functionalist lens. That is not to say the Functionalist approach
does not have a seat at the table when examining Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust, however, because nothing is as black and white as many
portray it to be. The fact of the matter is that the Holocaust was not a
function of society, but was instead a purely intentional event spurred on
by a totalitarian regime headed by Adolf Hitler.
When looking at an event as momentous in history as the
Holocaust, it is important to realize that nothing can be reasoned with
absolutes (though many try to define it that way), which is where the
Intentionalist/Functionalist debate arises. The first and most reasonable,
if a bit flawed, the Intentionalist approach asserts:
Intentionalists focus on the frequently and explicitly
stated ambition of Hitler to eliminate German Jewry and
his role in the actual process. Anti-Semitism, the
antimodern ideology par excellence, was the core of the
Nazi regime, and when the time came, the vast
machinery of government was directed by Nazi elites to
prosecute the ‘war on the Jews.’ By this theory the
explanation of the Holocaust coincides neatly with the
agency of those responsible for its perpetration. Act
followed intention in a linear diachronic fashion. The
Holocaust was anything but an accident, and there is no
question of who was responsible for it.22
The Intentionalist approach to explaining the Holocaust unabashedly, as
it should, places the responsibility of the Holocaust at the feet of the
Fuhrer and the upper echelon of the Nazi party.
One need only to examine Hitler’s own rhetoric to establish the
intent. It is no secret how inflammatory his hate was for the undesirables,
with Jews at the forefront of his vitriol. Hitler was a self-serving
philosopher when it came to rationalizing and articulating his feelings for
the Jews, and often utilized analogy as a tool to castigate them. For some
22
A. D. Moses, “Structure and Agency in the Holocaust: Daniel J. Goldhagen
and His Critics,” History and Theory 37, no. 2 (1998): 201.
56
Richard Butler
reason, Hitler seemed to believe that Jews had some sort of super natural
power that was outside their own conscious control:
Jews are not aware of the destructive power they
represent. Now, he who destroys life is himself risking
death. That’s the secret of what is happening to the Jews.
Whose fault is it when a cat devours a mouse? The fault
of the mouse, who has never done any harm to a cat?
The destructive role of the Jew has in a way a
providential explanation. If nature wanted the Jew to be
the ferment that causes peoples to decay, thus providing
these peoples with an opportunity for a healthy reaction,
in that case people like St. Paul and Trotsky are, from
our point of view, the most valuable. 23
While this may just be a single instance of how Hitler invoked nature and
historical precedence for his reasoning on why he was justified in his
intense anti-Semitism, his rhetoric, whether in writing or speech, is often
littered with the same sort of reasoning.
If there had been no rhetoric or propaganda preceding the actions
of the Nazi party in its conquest of the Jews, then the Functionalist
approach would have a leg to stand on when trying to explain Nazi
Germany and the Holocaust holistically. Obviously that is not the case,
and to try to argue in abstraction detracts from the task at hand. Even
though the Functionalist approach is deficient in a major area of
understanding, Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, one cannot assume that
the Intentionalist perspective is pristine and without fault. Both
approaches are fundamentally flawed, but that does not mean that they
are entirely devoid of merit. They both exhibit a strong understanding of
certain aspects of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but as stand-alone
theories they cannot hold up as viable avenues to understanding the
complexities inherent in the Nazi epoch.
The Intentionalist approach finds its greatest merit in explaining
the macro-effects of Nazi Germany and in turn is rather deficient in
explaining its micro aspects. Those micro aspects consist of the mid to
lower level members of the party which made up the large majority of
the population who stood by, towed the party line and were not among
the Nazi elite. Where the Intentionalist argument succeeds, the
Functionalist fails, and conversely the Intentionalist argument fails where
the Functionalist argument succeeds. The Intentionalist perspective is
able to explain the driving force of the ideology and grasps the
momentous importance of Hitler and the upper echelon of the Nazi party
23
Martin Borman, Hitler’s Table Talk (Burlington: Ostara Publications, 2012),
60.
57
to society under its influence. It is nonetheless grossly lacking in its
ability to understand the state of the people who were being driven by the
ideology of the totalitarian government that had a phenomenal
propaganda machine and arguably one of the most charismatic leaders of
all time. Functionalism is the exact opposite, which for the most part
misses the mark on how much “Hitler was irreplaceable in Nazism.”24 It
is still true though that the Functionalist perspective succeeds in its
ability to analyze how the great majority of the population under the Nazi
party was able to commit the dehumanizing acts of the Holocaust.
The Functionalists argue that the deep seeded anti-Semitism in
Germany, let alone the European continent, was the bedrock for the
progression of anti-Semitism in Nazi ideology that resulted in the
Holocaust; and shows that Hitler himself was not imminently
responsible. The Functionalist approach has prescribed arguments that
seem to suggest that Hitler was largely not responsible for the Holocaust.
Notions produced by this approach seem almost nonsensical, considering
Hitler’s place in the Nazi regime: which suggests, “Hitler furnished the
legitimating ideology, to be sure, but the actual substance of the
Holocaust was the achievement of bureaucrats, eager to please their
master, and willing to undertake any measure to advance their careers.”25
In response to the previous statement or John Weiss’ assertion that “It is
time to stop believing that ‘without Hitler, no Holocaust,’”26 an
Intentionalist would assert “In the long evolution of Nazi Jewish policy
to the Final Solution, Hitler had been of course not only ‘champion and
spokesman’ but also the necessary and pivotal decision maker.”27 There
are two types of Functionalists, responsible and irresponsible.
Responsible Functionalists, such as Bloxham, recognize that “The
Holocaust, like every other genocide, there was no inevitability to its
occurrence.”28 The responsible Functionalists are able ascertain the
impetus of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, but what scholars like
Bloxham and Snyder are able to do, through careful analysis of the facts
rather than the stigma, is provide a demystified perspective, even if their
Functionalist base does not grasp the macro-effects as well as an
Intentionalist base would. Bloxham and Snyder’s destigmatized approach
to scholarship is a great and useful tool in gaining purer understanding.
Taking the two perspectives into account for their merits and
deficiencies, it is abundantly clear that in moving forward, neither
approach is a sufficient route to a more complete, honest understanding
24
Ian Kershaw, “Working Towards the Führer: Reflections on the Nature of the
Hitler Dictatorship,” Contemporary European History 2, no. 2 (1993): 110.
25
Moses, 203.
26
Donald L. Niewyk, The Holocaust (Boston: Wadsworth, 2011), 23.
27
Browning, 428.
28
Bloxham, 7.
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Richard Butler
of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust. When dealing with a situation this
complex, standing on opposite poles will blind the eyes of the researcher
to what the opposite pole has at its center. This problem is apparent in
the analysis of the two perspectives and is the precise reason we need to
move to a moderating perspective that allows us to see the whole picture.
Moving forward with a modified Intentionalist perspective, that
incorporates both perspectives under an Intentionalist umbrella provides
the vantage point that illuminates as close to the whole picture as
possible.
Modified Intentionalist Perspective
Though it is important to establish that the Holocaust and the many
atrocities committed by the Nazis were directly influenced by the
intentions of the ideology espoused by Hitler and the Nazi elite, it is
equally important to address the issue of the functions that ideology
created. It would be easy to take the Goldhagen eliminationist antiSemitic approach and claim that everyone in the Third Reich was
directly responsible for the actions they took, no matter the external
factors, and were responsible for the choices they made. The significance
of the issue is that the environment Hitler and the Nazis created was one
characterized by terror and paranoia. The propaganda machine of the
Nazi regime was fantastically effective at inundating the masses with
party ideology and facilitating the phenomenon of mob mentality, a skill
Hitler himself employed in his oration; this skill was remarked on by
Hans V. Klatenborn after an interview with Hitler, “It is evident…He has
the orator’s instinct for exaggeration and popularization, and is utterly
without conscience or restraint when he is speaking for effect. He knows
mob mind, and his one concern is to win it and hold it.”29 Hitler’s totality
as dictator, coupled with his charismatic leadership and effusive support
of his propaganda machine created a society of functionaries of
Nazism/Hitlerism.
The psychological state of those committing the atrocities for the
Nazi regime seems distant from rational thinking due to them being in
such a totalitarian state. Once taking into account the way the Nazi party
operated, the totality in which it ruled, it is not hard to imagine how
paranoid the masses must have bee. This can be heard in the commentary
of Triumph of the Will, “dictators want your body, your actions but,
totalitarian governments want your mind.”30 Dissent was most definitely
not allowed, and this only enhanced the paranoia and need to remain
29
Adolf Hitler, interview by Hans V. Kaltenborn, "An Interview with Hitler,
August 17, 1932," The Wisconsin Magazine of History 50, no. 4 (1967): 289.
30
Leni Riefenstahl, Walter Ruttmann, and Eberhard Taubert, Triumph of the
Will, directed by Leni Riefenstahl, Leni Riefenstahl-Produktion, 1935, DVD.
59
faithful to the Fuhrer. “Assistant Secretary Friedrich Gauss, formerly the
highest legal officer in the German Foreign Office. He offered many
reasons for the acquiescence of the Germans to the mass murder of Jews;
some feared to lose their position, others to be arrested and brought to a
concentration camp, ‘and we did not act. We had lost our courage and
every concept of morality.’”31 Furthermore, in the vein of what effect the
state ideology had on the individual as far as ability to make decisions,
policeman Kurt Mobius stated:
We police went by the phrase, “Whatever serves the
state is right, whatever harms the state is wrong.”… it
never ever entered my head that these orders could be
wrong. Although I am aware that it is the duty of the
police to protect the innocent I was however at the time
convinced that the Jewish people were not innocent but
guilty. I believed all the propaganda that Jews were
criminals and subhuman…The thought that one should
oppose or evade the order to take part in the
extermination of the Jews never entered my head either.
32
The establishment of the lower levels of the Nazi regime as functionaries
of the party is by no means an attempt to absolve them of guilt. It is
however, meant to bring to light that there is an absence of absolutes
when dealing with an issue as enormous as the Holocaust. Additionally,
it is also meant to accentuate the intentions of Hitler and the influence he
and the elite held over masses. The vehicle of this power was the ability
of Hitler and the Nazi propaganda machine to utilize the appeal of
nationalism. “The other” is inherent to Nazi nationalism, and these two
concepts acted concurrently, because the majority of Nazi ideology was
racially based.
The concept of the “other” was central to the Nazi agenda and
the fact that it had no place in the Fuhrer’s Germany.
Nazi ideology despised otherness; it could not tolerate
any presence that might subvert blood purity and the
genetic ideals of an essentialism positing German culture
and blood as the supreme representations of race. The
Jews constituted “destabilizing sources of phobic anxiety
and quasi-ritual contamination”…The Jewish out group,
31
Kurt R. Grossman, “The Final Solution,” The Antioch Review 15, no. 1
(1955): 55.
32
Edward B. Westermann, “’Ordinary Men’ or ‘Ideological Soldiers’? Police
Battalion 310 in Russia, 1942,” German Studies Review 21, no. 1 (1998): 41.
60
Richard Butler
perceived as “both a hygienic and a ritual threat to a pure
Nazi identity,” disturbed the racially constructed
political ideal , its images and practices, and therefore
had to be eliminated.33
Hitler himself set the agenda when it came to the dealing with the
“others” that had polluted “his Germany.” He more often than not was
not one who dealt in subtleties either, and his intentions towards the Jews
were made abundantly clear in his January 30th, 1939 speech to the
Reichstag in which Kershaw saw as a defining moment for him. As he
included in the speech in “Hitler’s Decisive Role,” which reads:
I have very often in my lifetime been a prophet, and was
mostly derided. In the time of my struggle for power it
was in the first instance the Jewish people who received
only with laughter my prophecies that I would some
time take over the leadership of the state and of the
entire people in Germany and then, among other things,
also bring the Jewish problem to its solution. I believe
that this once hollow laughter of Jewry in Germany has
meanwhile already stuck in the throat. I want today to be
a prophet again: if international finance Jewry inside and
outside Europe should succeed in plunging the nations
once more into a world war, the result will be not the
bolshevization of the earth and thereby the victory of
Jewry, but the annihilation of the Jewish race in
Europe!34
The fact that the Functionalist argument found a receptive audience with
indisputable evidence of the intent to destroy the Jewish people such as
the previous speech is unfathomable. It was clear as day how Hitler
regarded the Jewish people, and he was clearly on a mission to stamp out
the Jews of Europe.
Even though Hitler had a taste for the theatrical when he gave
speeches, given his record of violence in the face of impurity within the
Reich, the Functionalists have no leg to stand on when it comes to
attributing the blame to factors other than Hitler. Hitler was on a mission
from the start to purge until he achieved the purity of blood, race, and
ideology. His first purge was not against a group he perceived as a racial
threat to the Germans, he purged members of the party whom he felt had
overstepped their bounds. This, of course, was the purge of the SA police
33
James M. Glass, “Against the Indifference Hypothesis: The Holocaust and the
Enthusiasts for Murder,” Political Psychology 18, no. 1 (1997): 132.
34
Niewyk, 28.
61
force in June and July of 1934 which was a “self-cleansing and
reorganization…in response to the chaotic expansion of the SA since
1931 or 1932.”35 The purge of the SA was not the most violent purge, but
it did establish a precedent in which “Hitler’s purges clarified that the
rule of law was subject to the whims of the Leader…Hitler ordered terror
as a way to develop his own favored paramilitary, the SS, and assert its
superiority over the various German state police forces.”36 If violence
was the answer for his own party members, it seems fairly obvious that
what transpired in the Holocaust was a function of Hitlerism, not some
abstraction extrapolated by Functionalists that society at large was to
blame for its long history of anti-Semitism.
The Intentionalist approach more accurately captures Hitler’s
significance to the Holocaust, and rightfully so, because to assert that he
was anything less than essential to the Nazi goal of racial purity is
absurd. The Functionalist approach tries to rationalize the phenomenon
by arguing an abstraction that can never be proved, which is
irresponsible scholarship of the Holocaust, because it diminishes the
enormity of the event. Even though neither approach is absolutely correct
or adequate in explaining the complexity of the Holocaust, one thing is
clear through the comparative analysis of the Intentionalist/Functionalist
debate; that while they both claim to have rationalized the irrational,
neither of them can fully answer the simple questions of how and why.
Both arguments attempt to answer in the absolution of black and white,
but the question is far too complex to be answered in absolutes. To get as
close as possible to the complete answer, one has to acknowledge that
there are gray areas, and that the best way to answer the why and the how
is to synthesize the two arguments by focusing on the intentions of one
man, one party, one ideology, and how it created functionaries under the
umbrella of that man and party.
It could be argued that creating functionaries was Hitler’s intent,
which would seem to validate the Intentionalist argument, but that is the
precise reason for operating under the Intentionalist umbrella. Just
because it was caused by intention does not exclude the important role of
Functionalism; the two terms should not be seen as mutually exclusive.
Working with this combined perspective allows for a deeper
understanding of the situations and psyche of those committing the
atrocities. A prime example of the function of intent is what happened in
Garsden Lithunania, June 24, 1939. After the execution of Jews “for
crimes against the Wehrmacht on order of the Fuhrer” the “Memel
Schutzpolizei men discussed what they had done. In reassuring each
other, comments were made like ‘Good Heavens, damn it, one
35
Bruce B. Campbell, "The SA after the Rohm Purge," Journal of
Contemporary History 28, no. 4 (1993): 660.
36
Snyder, 76.
62
Richard Butler
generation has to go through this so that our children will have a better
life.’”37 When the sentiment of the functionaries mirrors that of the
ideological agents running the society, creating functionaries from the
intent of ideology has been achieved. People feeling that they were doing
what was necessary for the betterment of society was the quintessential
goal of Hitler-led Nazi Germany.
Conclusion
When dealing with a subject as complex as Nazi Germany and the
Holocaust, it is important to recognize the legacy that is associated with
such an infamous event in human history. Equally as important, is
recognizing that legacy is not being constrained the quest to gain a fuller
understanding of how humanity devolved to institutional savagery. In the
interest of pragmatism, no matter what perspective taken, whether it be a
modified Intentionalist, Intentionalist, or Functionalist, it must be
understood that there will never be a completely pure understanding of
what happened. Even though there will never be a perfect analysis, it is
the duty of interpreters of history to get as close as possible. At this
juncture, the vehicle to get to that point is analyzing Nazi Germany and
the Holocaust through a modified Intentionalist perspective.
The modified Intentionalist understanding provides a perspective
that still allocates the lion’s share of the blame with the Hitler and his
ideologies. Working under the umbrella of an Intentionalist perspective
synthesized with elements of Functionalism, shifts the assumption that
genocide is not a disease of function. Functionalism is, however, a
symptom of genocide. By approaching Nazi Germany and the Holocaust
this way, it eliminates the ability of the Functionalist to manipulate the
historical record in a fashion to suit their platform. This is important
because cherry picking history to fit a narrative places the Holocaust on a
dialectical pattern, suggesting that history and events are working
towards a goal. This dialectical pattern, when reigned in and applied
within the confines of Nazi Germany, assists in understanding how the
people went along with a radical ideology and how the Final Solution
evolved within the chaos of the Nazi state.
There are many who would allocate the Holocaust as the
defining moment of the twentieth century, and to a point they would be
right, even if that perspective is a bit short sighted. It would be more
accurate to assign that allocation to World War II as a whole. The many
theaters of war forever shifted our view of humanity, and shows just how
destructive we as citizens of the world can be. This is largely a product
of humanity’s progress into modernity, as the regard for human life has
37
Browning, 254.
63
been continually devalued. One need only look to the atrocities of war,
whether it is the Holocaust, Operation Barbarossa, Stalinist Russia, the
Atomic bombs or the actions of the Japanese in China. Simply, World
War II was largely an assault on humanity.
This concept of modernity and humanity’s ever vigilant search
for a higher dose of it has led to people being only seen as numbers. “The
Nazi regime turned people into numbers, some of which we can only
estimate, some of which we can reconstruct with fair precision. It is for
us as scholars to seek these numbers and to put them into perspective. It
is for us as humanists to turn the numbers back into people. If we cannot
do that, then Hitler has shaped not only our world, but our humanity.”38
The legacy of modernity and the quest to keep progressing should not be
defined by the loss of humanity, because the legacies of evil overshadow
those in the past, but the present and future’s appeal to humanity. Why is
it easier for us to turn our humanity over to a statistic, rather than to
strive as a collective entity, united in our humanity to exist? In the
immortal words of Abraham Lincoln, “with malice towards none and
charity for all”?39 If it is possible to move in that direction, we can begin
to assure ourselves that humanity, in the face of modernity, has not been
defined by someone as malevolent as Adolf Hitler.
38
Snyder, 408.
Abraham Lincoln, "Second Inaugural Speech," last modified June 12, 2009,
http://www.abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=17&CRL
I=94.
39
64
Richard Butler
Bibliography
Bloxham, Donald. The Final Solution: A Genocide. Oxford: University
Press, 2009.
Bormann, Martin. Hitler’s Table Talk. Burlington. Ostara Publications,
2012.
Browning, Christopher R. The Origins of the Final Solution: The
Evolution of Nazi Jewish Policy, September 1939-March 1942.
Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004.
Campbell, Bruce B. "The SA after the Rohm Purge." Journal of
Contemporary History 28, no. 4 (1993): 659-674.
Fuchs, Thomas. A Concise Biography of Adolf Hitler. New York: The
Berkley Publishing Group, 2000.
Glass, James M. “Against the Indifference Hypothesis: The Holocaust
and the Enthusiasts for Murder.” Political Psychology 18, no. 1
(1997):129-145.
Grossmann, Kurt R. “The Final Solution.” The Antioch Review 15, no. 1
(1955): 55-72.
Hitler, Adolf. Mein Kampf. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1999.
--------. Hitler’s Secret Book. New York: Grove Press, 1983.
--------. "An Interview with Hitler, August 17, 1932." By Hans V.
Kaltenborn. The Wisconsin Magazine of History 50, no. 4
(1967): 283-290.
Kershaw, Ian. Popular Opinion and Political Dissent in the Third Reich:
Bavaria 1933-1945. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
--------. "Hitler and the Uniqueness of Nazism." Journal of
Contemporary History 39, no. 2 (2004): 239-254.
--------. “Working Towards the Führer. Reflections on the Nature of the
Hitler Dictatorship.” Contemporary European History 2, no. 2
(1993): 103-118.
65
Moses, A. D. “Structure and Agency in the Holocaust: Daniel J.
Goldhagen and His Critics.” History and Theory 37, no. 2
(1998):194-219.
Niewyk, Donald L. The Holocaust. Boston: Wadsworth, 2011.
Riefenstahl, Leni, Walter Ruttmann, and Eberhard Taubert. Triumph of
the Will. Directed by Leni Riefenstahl. Germany: Leni
Riefenstahl-Produktion, 1935. DVD.
Snyder, Timothy. Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. New
York: Basic Books, 2010.
Westermann, Edward B. “‘Ordinary Men’ or ‘Ideological Soldiers’?
Police Battalion 310 in Russia, 1942.” German Studies Review
21, no. 1 (1998): 41-68.
66
Richard Butler
Author Bio
Richard Butler is currently a student in the M.A. of Social Sciences
program at California State University, San Bernardino, and is a 2012
graduate from Cali ornia State University, San Bernardino with a
Bachelor’s in History, which focused on modern Europe and China.
After completion of his Master’s, he intends to teach history at the high
school level, event ally moving on to the community college level.
Richard enjoys traveling to the places that he has studied and coaching
baseball at a local high school. He would like to thank Dr. Pytell and Dr.
Murray of the Hist ry Department at California State University, San
Bernardino, as they have been incredibly influential on his educational
path, and providing opportunities that would not have been possible
without their guidance. Richard would also like to thank his family and
friends for their unwavering support throughout his educational journey.
67
Rebecca Parraz
Holocaust Ghettos
By Rebecca Parraz
Abstract: In Nazi Germany, the Jewish people were forced into
segregated areas that would ultimately evolve into “Holocaust ghettos.”
Thousands of these ghettos were built across Europe, and within these
ghettos Jews were under complete control and forced to follow severe
regulations. These ghettos soon became overpopulated, and resources
became scarce. By the end of World War II, thousands of Jews had died
within the walls of the ghettos. Causes of death ranged from starvation to
disease, and even murder. It is evident that as the war progressed, the
Nazis began to use the ghettos as a tool in the Final Solution. The
ghettos, however, were not initially intended as a stage in the Final
Solution; rather, as they evolved, the Nazis began to use them as another
tool to solve the Jewish Question. At the start of war, Jews were forced
into areas, primarily slums, in order to expel Jews from German
communities which created a “Jewish Absence.” The slums usually
consisted of older districts that harbored rundown warehouses and
buildings; they became a “Jewish Place.” The Jews, under extreme
stress, utilized the area by implementing highly organized communities
which aided in the adjustment of life within the ghettos. Then, as a means
to further control and concentrate the Jews, the Nazis decided to build
walls around the cities with the purpose of segregating them from the
German population. The walls completely isolated the Jews and
contributed to the formation of a Jewish community within the ghettos.
The intent of this research will be to examine the Lodz and Warsaw
ghettos by focusing on their construction, geography, and transition from
a Jewish community into a Holocaust ghetto.
Introduction
Throughout the Holocaust, Nazis forced Jews into specified areas that
became known as the Jewish Ghettos. By 1940, the Lodz and Warsaw
ghettos were established and thousands of Jews were promptly forced to
leave their homes and livelihoods behind to live in them. The ghettos
were placed in specific areas, such as slums, because they were primarily
located on the outskirts of the “German cities” and contained fewer
“Aryans.” Additionally, these slums contained neglected buildings often
filled with trash, and were less populated by the Germans. The
69
Holocaust Ghettos
conditions in the Lodz and Warsaw ghettos were brutal; they were
overcrowded, unsanitary, and epidemics of disease claimed lives daily.
As a result, and due to a lack of sanitation services, corpses were often
left on the streets. Furthermore, the Nazis supplied little food and
supplies to the ghettos. In order to cope with the stress and horrible
conditions, Jews began to form a community. These communities were
headed by Jewish leaders who negotiated with the Nazis on behalf of
those within the ghettos. Thus, they became a “Jewish place.” As the
Jews began to settle, the ghettos became a new home, and there was hope
that the terror was over. However, as conditions worsened, the number of
deaths increased daily and the Nazis began to use the ghettos to solve the
“Jewish Question.” Subsequently, the ghettos transitioned into
“Holocaust ghettos.” More specifically, by 1942, the Lodz and Warsaw
ghettos were no longer meant to sustain life. The intent of this paper is
to argue that ghettoization began as a way to create a "Jewish Absence"
in the “German Empire,” and only transitioned into “Holocaust ghettos”
to more efficiently implement the Final Solution.
Shortly after the German Occupation of Poland in 1939,
Germans began to force Jews into the ghettos as an attempt to create a
“Jewish absence” within the cities. Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, and
Reinhard Heydrich “envisioned a vast demographic reorganization of the
newly conquered territories,” and as a part of this plan, Jews “were to be
concentrated in urban centers then expelled to the furthest corner of the
German empire.”1 Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbles stated in 1939
that the Jews, “must be isolated completely, otherwise all of Europe will
be poisoned.”2 By expelling the Jews, the Nazis were creating a “German
empire” that primarily consisted of “pure blooded Germans.” Evidence
shows that in 1939 the attempt to expel the Jews to the “furthest corner
of the German empire” was a means of creating a “Jewish absence,”
rather than a means of initiating the Final Solution. During ghettoization,
Jews were given a short notice of evacuation, and then were forced to
leave most of their belongings behind. Thousands of Jews were expelled
into specified areas outside major cities.
This process later became known as ghettoization, which can be
defined as: “the drawing of boundaries (whether physical facades or
imaginary dividing lines) which separate ‘Jews’ from ‘non-Jews.”3
Simply, ghettoization was a process of removing Jews from German
cities and placing them in specified areas for the sole intent of
1
Christopher Browning, “Nazi Ghettoization Policy in Poland: 1939-1941,”
Central European History 19, no. 4 (1986): 345.
2
Phillip Friedman, “The Jewish Ghettos of the Nazi Era,” Jewish Social Studies
16, no. 1 (1954): 66.
3
Tim Cole, Holocaust City: The Making of a Jewish Ghetto (New York:
Routledge, 2003), 37.
70
Rebecca Parraz
“cleansing” the “German Empire.” As Tim Cole argued, “Ghettoization
can therefore be a means of gathering all the ‘Jews’ in the city together in
one particular place (‘Jewish presence’), and/or it can be a means of
making the remainder of the city judenfrei (‘Jewish absence’).”4 The
Germans created a “Jewish absence” by removing the Jews from cities,
and created a “Jewish presence” within the ghettos as a result. Therefore,
ghettoization resulted in the formation of “Jewish cities,” (usually
located within larger “German cities”) which later became known as the
Jewish ghettos. Essentially, they became a city within a city.
After the Nazis decided ghettoization was necessary in order to
create a “Jewish absence” within the “German Empire,” the question of
where to place the Jews arose. As Cole argued, one must take the
location of the ghettos seriously and, “recognize that the doctors of space
involved in implementing ghettoization in the locality made decisions
over where the ghetto boundaries were drawn and where they were not
drawn within the Holocaust city.”5 The placement of the ghettos was
thought out carefully to ensure they would not interfere with the success
of the “German Empire.” For example, the Germans had to insure that
the placement of the ghettos would not interfere with active markets,
business districts, or heavily populated Aryan apartment buildings. Cole
recognized that “there was clearly an architecture for ‘Aryans’ and an
architecture for ‘non-Aryans,’ and, more broadly, distinctive ‘Aryan’ and
‘non-Aryan’ spaces.”6 The “non-Aryan” architecture and spaces would
include the poorer districts and a small Aryan population. Consequently,
the outdated slums were chosen for the ghettos, because the area was
poor, trashed, and undesirable to Germans; they were a “non-Aryan”
space.
In February 1940, the Chief of Police in Lodz issued a decree
stating, “in order to concentrate all the Jews residing in the city of Lodz
in one separate quarter, a residential area will be established in the part of
the city northward from Deutschland Square.”7 Friedrich Uebelhoer,
Regierungspräsdient (Chief Administrator) for the Lodz region, stated
“the creation of the ghetto is of course only a transitional measure. I shall
determine at what time and with what means the ghetto and thereby also
the city will be cleansed of Jews.”8 Hence, the establishment of the Lodz
ghetto was simply a means of “cleansing” the city of the Jews by
deportation and complete expulsion from the “German Empire.” By
April 1940, Lodz was completely separated from the rest of the city 9 and
4
Ibid.
Ibid., 36.
6
Ibid., 7.
7
Alan Adelson and Robert Lapides, Lodz Ghetto (New York: Viking, 1989), 31.
8
Browning, 346.
9
Ibid.
5
71
Holocaust Ghettos
was surrounded by a fence with barbed wire to prevent people from
escaping the ghetto. Further, the fence kept the Jews inside the ghetto
and under complete control of the Nazis. Jews were not permitted to
leave unless they worked outside the ghetto, otherwise they would be
punished; usually they were shot on the spot. The Lodz ghetto was
placed in the northern districts of the city, which was known as “Baluty”
and “the Old City.”10 Although the northern districts of Lodz included
several factories and warehouses, the area was nevertheless considered
poor, because the buildings had heavily deteriorated in the years prior.
Most were in danger of being torn down, and were filled with dirt and
trash.11 Additionally, the “Baulty” had crooked alleys, no street lights,
and had no fire, sanitation or zoning regulations; essentially it was a
breeding ground for disease.12 Essentially, they were the most
unappealing areas to the Germans. Furthermore, it was a “non-Aryan”
space; it was an ideal place for the Lodz ghetto.
Similar to Lodz, the Warsaw ghetto was located in a rundown
area and was established shortly after the German occupation. On
October 2, 1940, L. Fischer, the governor of the district, signed an order
“for the formation of a separate Jewish district in Warsaw;” the details of
the construction and placement of the Warsaw ghetto was planned in the
headquarters of the chief in Warsaw.13 As the capital of Poland, and
according to the 1931 Polish census, Warsaw contained 352,659 Jews,
30.1 percent of the total population.14 Consequently, the Nazis quickly
had to create a space to concentrate all of the Jews and remove them
from the city or “Aryan” space. Throughout the Holocaust, the Warsaw
ghetto was the largest ghetto in Poland. By 1941, the ghetto was divided
up into three sections and, at one point, contained around 500,000 Jews.15
To maintain control of the large number of Jews (and to keep epidemics
down) residing within the Warsaw ghetto, walls were put up. Nazis
specifically placed the Warsaw ghetto in the “Seuchensperrgebiet,” an
area that was threatened by an epidemic in the northern district of the
city.16 The southern borders were altered several times to exclude further
streets, and between October and November 1941, the border
adjustments left around 75,000 people without shelter.17 It is clear the
Nazis initially saw the Warsaw ghetto as a means of creating a “Jewish
10
Roman Mogilanski, The Ghetto Anthology (Los Angeles: American Congress
of Jews from Poland and Survivors of Concentration Camps, 1985), 161.
11
Adelson and Lapides, 36.
12
Ibid., 35.
13
Mogilanski, 309.
14
Howard Fertig, The Jewish Communities of Nazi-Occupied Europe (Howard
Fertig, 1982), 3.
15
Ibid.
16
Mogilanski, 309.
17
Ibid., 310.
72
Rebecca Parraz
absence” within the city of Warsaw, and to create this absence, they
looked to the most disease-ridden and unwanted section of the city; once
more, it was a “non-Aryan” space.
Evidently, the establishment and placement of the Lodz and
Warsaw ghettos were clearly planned and thought out. Phillip Friedman
argued that “the purpose of the ghettos became apparent from the manner
of their formation.”18 The Nazis specifically placed the ghettos in slum
areas on the outskirts of major towns. As in the case of Lodz and
Warsaw, walls were built and boundaries were established months after
Germany occupied Poland, and Jews were forced to abandon their homes
and move into these areas immediately. Upon establishment, the
Germans planned to impoverish the Jews. As a result, the Nazis allowed
Jews to carry few personal belongings, and in the cases of Warsaw and
Lodz, businesses located outside the ghetto had to be completely
abandoned.19 The Nazis took much of what the Jews left behind for the
economic gain of the “German Empire;” such as, jewelry and gold. Thus,
upon entering the ghettos, the Jews were at an economic disadvantage.
Once in them, the Jews were forced to live in overcrowded buildings and
poor conditions. Therefore, immediately forcing the Jews into the
ghettos, stripping them of all economic opportunities, and most
importantly, quality living conditions, were indications that the ghettos
were not intended to sustain life.
The conditions in Lodz were horrible. The buildings were in
danger of being torn down and only 382 of the apartments had water
pipes and drains; 294 had toilets, and only 49 had a toilet, drain and a
bath.20 Many of the people could not shower or use a toilet in their home;
they lived in conditions that were fit for wild animals. Many people
rarely showered, and were forced to relieve themselves in other places.
Subsequently, Lodz became extremely unsanitary, and diseases broke out
and killed thousands. In 1941, Lodz had severe typhoid fever and spotted
typhus epidemics, resulting in 1,080 Jewish dead within three weeks.21
As a response to the horrible conditions, Lodz citizens posted a bulletin
that demanded all the trash to be cleaned up, all the toilets needed to be
repaired, baths provided, disinfections for those infected, and free
laundry for the poor.22 Obviously, these demands were not met.
Similarly, in Warsaw the conditions were appalling. There was a
lack of sanitation, and a shortage of soap, disinfectant, and medical
supplies. Diseases spread quickly in Warsaw, because like Lodz, it was
very overcrowded and the living conditions were filthy. The lack of
18
Friedman, 75.
Ibid., 75-76.
20
21
Fertig, 44.
22
19
73
Holocaust Ghettos
plumbing and hygienic supplies resulted in irregular baths and improper
disposal of human waste, resulting in the spread of disease and vermin.
“During the last week of March, 1940 there were 281 cases of typhus in
Warsaw, 268 among Jews and 13 among non- Jews. The first week of
April brought 305 new cases, 293 among Jews...”23 Lice also became a
major problem within the ghettos; medical records from Warsaw stated
that out of 12,164 children examined during August 1941, 19% suffered
from lice; and in September 1941, out of 11,580 children examined, 20%
had lice. 24 As time passed, the chances of survival within the ghettos
became slimmer as the Nazis continued to overcrowd the ghettos and
make conditions even worse.
In addition to living like animals, the Jews were treated like
animals. Jews were forced to labor and were harassed on a daily basis.
Nazis attacked Jews psychologically; for example, there were cases when
Nazis would enter Jewish households and rape young girls and women in
front of their husbands and parents.25 There were several other reports of
Nazis who would take women from the ghettos and send them to public
houses in Germany or Poland, and force them into prostitution.26 Many
Jews within the ghettos broke down mentally, because of the horrid
conditions and treatment. Moreover, the Nazis dehumanized the Jews. In
Warsaw, on November 21, 1941, Emmanuel Ringelblum noted, “A Jew
was ordered to kneel, and they urinated on him. They beat women, too,
at Chlodna Street.”27 Germans viewed the Jews not as human beings, but
as a disease. The constant harassment deteriorated the self-worth of Jews.
Howard Fertig stated “Apathy, resignation, lack of will power and
suicides occurred frequently, as did psychic collapse and insanity.”28
Jews were constantly dehumanized, and to a majority, this stripped them
of any idea of self-worth and survival. In 1941, five times as many Jews
committed suicide in Warsaw as in pre-Nazi occupied Poland.29 For
many Jews, suicide was an escape from the horrors; however, it was also
an action motivated by fear. Occasionally, Jews committed suicide
because they would rather end their own life than be killed by the Nazis.
This type of suicide, nevertheless, occurred more during 1943 (when the
Nazis began to liquidate the ghettos), than in any earlier year. At the end
of summer 1942, a new wave of suicides began and families began to put
an end to their lives together.30
23
Fertig, 44.
Ibid., 45.
25
Ibid., 55.
26
Ibid.
27
Jacob Sloan, Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto (New York: McGraw-Hill,
1958), 91.
28
Fertig, 45.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid.
24
74
Rebecca Parraz
Although thousands died from diseases, the biggest threat was
starvation. All economic ties with the outside world were broken after
the ghettos were isolated from the rest of the city, and supplies within the
ghetto were quickly exhausted.31 Many Jews could not afford food,
because they had few economic means and the prices were so high.
Dawid Sierrakowiak, who lived and died in the Lodz Ghetto, wrote
“Vegetables even potatoes are supposed to arrive this week, but even if
they do arrive, I have no idea where to get cash for them.”32 Food, and
the fear of starvation, were on the minds of many of the Jews residing in
the ghettos. Dawid and thousands of other Jews often starved waiting for
a shipment of food to arrive in the ghetto, even though they had no
money to buy it. The lack of nourishment weakened the Jews and made
them more susceptible to the constant threat of epidemics. The Nazis
were aware that many Jews were starving, yet they rarely increased the
rations and did nothing to provide the Jews with opportunities for
economic gain. Average rations amounted to about 230 calories, and by
1942, 100,000 Jews died from hunger in the Warsaw ghetto.33 Governor
of the Warsaw district, Dr. Lud-wig Fischer, declared, “After the war the
Jewish question will receive a uniform solution in all Europe. Until then
the ghettos must fulfill their aim.”34 By 1942, the “aim” of the ghettos
became more apparent as the number of deaths increased. Hence, the
Lodz and Warsaw ghettos evolved into Holocaust ghettos; they were a
tool in the Final Solution.
For many, in the beginning, the ghettos became a “Jewish
place” and the prisoners of Lodz became a community. In 1941, the
ghettos were a “Jewish place.” Jozef Zelkowicz, a man who lived in the
Lodz ghetto wrote:
These were the first days in the ghetto. People did not
yet comprehend the evil which had befallen them. The
population was, so to speak, in the honeymoon of the
ghetto life, and behaved therefore like a young,
freewheeling bride-groom, eating well and spending one
banknote from his dowry after another. Everything in the
ghetto, therefore, was for sale. Everything that could be
procured. After the turmoil in the city, after the killings
inside the homes during the ‘planned resettlement,’ after
the grabbing of people on the streets for forced labor,
after the scare about what was going to happen
31
Browning, 348.
Alan Adelson, Kamil Turowski and Lawrence Langer, The Diary of Dawid
Sierakowiak (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996), 118.
33
Mogilanski, 312.
34
Friedman, 7.
32
75
Holocaust Ghettos
tomorrow, or even in a few hours, the Jews in the ghetto,
among themselves, rejoiced in dolce far niente.35
Crowds gathered in the street and exchanged good news.
Cards were played outdoors, and food was stashed
away.36
After being taken from their homes and forced into the ghettos, there was
an attempt to form a community. Moreover, by creating a community,
the Jews attempted to adjust to life within the ghettos, and this created a
hope for survival. Moshe Fass argued that the resumption of cultural
activities, such as performances and theater, began in small households
because there was still a fear that large groups that assembled would be
punished and forced into labor.37 Performances and theater were used as
a source of entertainment, as well as a means to cope with life within the
ghettos. Additionally, theater was used to maintain their identities and
cultural values. “The situation [in the ghettos] slowly stabilized, calm
and quiet returned, patches of green began to cover the ghetto’s grounds,
benches were placed on Lutomierska Street. The rejected community
began to look like an island of self-government.”38 For the most part, this
sense of community united the Jews in Lodz.
Jacob Sloan argued, “There were many who, imbued with the
best tradition of Jewish altruism, retained their humanity. Soon after, the
ghetto was established, these people, [Emmanuel] Ringelblum among
them, organized House Committees.”39 The committees were created to
serve the community of Warsaw and aid them when needed. For
example, the committees “tried to support the impoverished residents,
particularly the children, with food and clothing.”40 Additionally, the
committees helped strengthen the spirits of the community of Warsaw by
providing aid and giving the people hope for survival. As the conditions
worsened in Warsaw, the committees grew larger. People from all
classes, ages, and occupations joined, and particularly in 1942,
Emmanuel Ringelblum, a prisoner of the Warsaw ghetto, noted that
women played an important role in the committees when the men were
exhausted.41 Ultimately, the committees signified the will to survive in
the Warsaw ghetto by the community uniting and providing aid for one
another.
35
Italian for: Sweet Frivolity.
37
Mosche Fass, “Theatrical Activities in the Polish Ghettos during the Years
1939-1942,” Jewish Social Studies 38, no. 1 (1976): 54.
38
39
Sloan, 101.
40
Ibid.
41
Ibid.
36
76
Rebecca Parraz
In Lodz, the leader of the community was the Eldest of the Jews,
Mordechai Chaim Rumkowski. Adelson stated that “the Eldest of the
Jews is the head of the ghetto and, also, the intermediary between the
ghetto and the outside world. He had been given absolute power over the
ghetto from the very first moment. . .”42 Thus, Rumkowski controlled the
Lodz ghetto. He issued proclamations, orders, and the community of
Lodz was subjected to his rule. The question arises, however, if
Rumkowski had complete power over Lodz, or if the Nazis held the
power and simply used Rumkowski as a puppet. Adelson argued that
Rumkowski was responsible for everything that happened in the ghetto,
and the German authorities dealt straightly and solely with him.43
Additionally, they considered Rumkowski the “executive organ for all
their orders, but he was also the one they held responsible if something
failed to meet their wishes.”44 It is clear Rumkowski held a great deal of
responsibility and power. Every decision he made affected the lives of
thousands of Jews in the Lodz ghetto. If he went against the wishes of
the Nazis, however, his (and his family’s) lives would be at stake.
Rumkowski was an ordinary man. He “had received his position
by chance” and “his schooling was equivalent to that of the elementary
grades.”45 Adelson argued, however, that Rumkowski was born to be
leader of the Lodz ghetto, because he “was always ready. Without
discussion, to carry out orders, even those measures with grave
consequences.”46 Although Rumkowski was not educated, he was a
smart man that attempted to find a balance between appeasing the
German authorities and keeping the community of Lodz alive. “In the
ghetto, other sides of his character also showed themselves; his intense
vitality, admirable in a man of 63; his constant vigilance, day and night,
for problems to be averted or overcome; his wish to hold power in his
hands at all times, willing to surrender none of it to anyone.”47 Therefore,
Rumkowski was an ordinary man that had many flaws, and as the Lodz
ghetto transitioned to a Holocaust ghetto, his position became more
demanding.
By the end of 1941, much of the Lodz community began to
distrust Rumkowski. Dawid Sierakowiak mentioned that Rumkowski had
not given the community wood, and the food allocations had shrank.48
Then, a few days later, Sierakowiak and much of the Lodz community
began to distrust Rumkowski, when he noticed that he had “grown fat
42
Ibid.
44
Ibid.
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid.
47
Ibid., 53.
48
Adelson, Turowski and Langer, 81-82.
43
77
Holocaust Ghettos
and looks incredibly younger.”49 Instead of aging due to the stress of
horrible conditions, and losing weight because of the food shortage,
Rumkowski was quite healthy when compared with the rest of the Lodz
community. Clearly, Rumkowski was eating plenty, and was somehow
living a better life than the Lodz community. Therefore, he was not a part
of the community of Lodz, he was simply a dictator. According to
Rumkowski, “Dictatorship is not a dirty word. Through dictatorship I
earned the Germans’ respect for my work. And whenever they say,
‘Litzmannstadt Ghetto,’ I answer them, ‘Das isst kein Getto sondern eine
Arbeitsstadt’ [Ger.: ‘This is not a ghetto but a work town’].”50 Though
Rumkowski was in fact a dictator of Lodz, he did not have the respect of
the Germans. He was simply another Jew within the ghetto that would
ultimately become another victim of the Final Solution.
In September 1942, the Nazis announced that they wanted the
children and elderly from Lodz and Rumkowski complied. Rumkowski
stated in a speech responding to the order from the Nazis to give up their
children and elders, “Yesterday afternoon, they gave me the order to
send more than 20,000 Jews out of the ghetto, and if not—‘We will do
it!’. . . I must perform this difficult and bloody operation—I must cut off
the limbs in order to save the body itself!”51 To give up members of their
family affected everyone in the ghetto. Although an unethical decision,
Rumkowski believed that by giving up 20,000 children and other Jews,
the rest of the Lodz community would survive. It is not clear if
Rumkowski was aware he was sending the children and elderly to their
deaths. The decision to send them was difficult, however, and they were
victims nonetheless. In the same speech, Rumkowski stated:
I understand you mothers; I see your tears, all right. I
also feel what you feel you feel in your hearts, you
fathers who will have to go to work the morning after
your children have been taken from you, when just
yesterday you were playing with your dear little ones.
All this I know and feel. I share your pain. I suffer
because of your anguish, and I don’t know how I’ll
survive this—where I’ll find the strength to do so. . . A
broken Jews stands before you. Do not envy me. This is
the most difficult of all orders I’ve ever had to carry out
at any time. I reach out to you with my broken,
trembling hands and I beg: Give into my hands the
victims, so that we can avoid having further victims, and
a population of a hundred thousand Jews can be
49
Ibid., 84.
51
Ibid., 328-329.
50
78
Rebecca Parraz
preserved. So they promised me: if we deliver our
victims by ourselves, there will be peace...”52
The Lodz community had completely broken by this point. The loss of
the 20,000 children and elderly Jews broke the community physically
and psychologically. Lodz had fully transitioned into a Holocaust ghetto.
Similarly, the Warsaw community had an elder Jew, Adam
Czerniaków. The Jewish community was often known as the Jewish
council, and in his diary Czerniaków often mentioned that he was a part
of the community.53 Although he often made such claims, Czerniaków is
known for his collaboration with the Nazis during his time in Warsaw.
He was an important figure in Warsaw, however, his method of survival
involved collaborating with the Nazis rather than choosing to revolt, like
a majority of those in Warsaw. In other words, Czerniaków worked with
the Nazis by giving into their demands. For instance, when the Nazis
demanded he send Jews to be deported, he gathered members of the
community and sent them to their deaths. Though Czerniaków was the
leader of the Warsaw community, he was more of a puppet to the Nazis.
Joseph L. Lichten and Ludwik Kryżankowski argued that because of his
collaboration with the Nazis, “Czerniaków was a type of Polish Jew
about whom many speak with a bad grace, grudgingly, neglecting the
historical and psychological background of the person.”54 The question
then arises if Czerniaków was involved with the Jewish community, why
did he choose collaboration rather than revolt? Joseph L. Lichten and
Ludwik Kryżankowski argued that Czerniaków identified himself as
Polish and Jewish, and “for him they constituted a whole.” Furthermore,
he was equally devoted to Polish and Jewish matters.55 For instance,
shortly after Germany occupied Poland, Czerniaków had the opportunity
to flee despite the pressure from his wife and friends. As a response,
Czerniaków stated, “No, you others may leave, for you do not bear the
responsibility that I bear. . . I am the only one who must stay to the end. .
. Either I stay and survive with my community or die with it.”56
Czerniaków was devoted to the community in 1939, however, as the
conditions of the ghettos worsened and the Nazis became more
demanding, the stress overwhelmed him.
In 1942, Czerniaków committed suicide after deportations to
Treblinka began, and before the uprising in Warsaw. Lichten and
Kryżankowski argued that, “For Czerniaków the liquidation of the
52
Ibid., 330.
Joseph L. Lichten and Ludwik Kryżankowski, “Adam Czerniaków and His
Times,” The Polish Review 29, no. ½ (1984): 75.
54
Ibid., 74.
55
Ibid., 76.
56
Ibid., 78.
53
79
Holocaust Ghettos
Warsaw Ghetto was a personal blow, the ruin of all his efforts and his
work of almost three years. More, it was the defeat of his philosophy of
survival.”57 Czerniaków was psychologically defeated and knew that
death was imminent. His collaboration with the Nazis aided in the Final
Solution, and further, aided in the extermination of his community.
Before committing suicide, he wrote a letter to his wife; and a section of
it stated “they demanded from me that I kill with my own hands the
children of my people...there is nothing for me to do but die.”58 Evidence
indicates that Czerniaków felt guilty, however, he did not feel guilty
about collaboration. He felt guilty that he had sent people from his own
community to their deaths. Lichten and Kryżankowski suggest that
Czerniaków “suspected that the deportations actually indicated
annihilation, thought the hypocritical Germans assured him with their
‘word of honor’ that they were only performing a ‘resettlement’ to
another place.”59 By 1942, however, it was clear Czerniaków was aware
that those who were being deported were being sent to their deaths. In a
letter he wrote the Council of Warsaw before he committed suicide, he
stated:
Werthoff and his associates (the resettlement staff) came
to see me and demanded that a transport of children be
prepared for tomorrow. This overfills my cup of
bitterness for I cannot deliberately deliver defenseless
children to death. I decided to leave. Do not treat this as
an act of cowardice or an escape. I am powerless, my
heart breaks with pain and sorrow I cannot bear this any
longer. My deed will show the truth to everyone and
perhaps lead to the proper course of action. I realize that
I leave you with a heavy heritage.60
Mentally, this broke Czerniaków and he could no longer cope with
consequences of the decisions he made, and would have to continue to
make if he had lived as an elder Jew. After discussions with the Gestapo,
Czerniaków took a cyanide pill; this is believed to have been in his desk
since the first day of his tenure.61
After the Great Liquidation in the Warsaw ghetto, many realized
that a strong, organized resistance group was necessary in order to
survive. By 1942, the community realized that Jews taken from the
ghetto were being deported to extermination camps, such as Treblinka,
57
Ibid., 88.
Ibid., 89.
59
Ibid., 88.
60
Ibid., 89.
61
Ibid., 88.
58
80
Rebecca Parraz
rather than labor camps. As the people of Warsaw became aware that
Jews were being exterminated in concentration camps, they realized that
larger acts of resistance were necessary. Ruebem Ainsztein noted:
Perle, another chronicler of the Great Liquidation, who
wrote October 1942, ‘We could have defended
ourselves and resisted the slaughter. If all the Jews had
left their houses, if all the Jews had broken through the
walls, if they had invaded all the streets of Warsaw, both
the Jewish and non-Jewish streets, shouting, with axes,
stones, and choppers in their hands, then 10,000, 20,000
of them would have been shot down—but 300,000 could
not have been gunned down at once. We should have
died with honor. Those who survived would have
scattered all over the country, in all the townlets and in
all the villages. The Nazi murderer would not have
found it so easy to exterminate us.’62
Soon after, the Jewish Fighting Organization (Żydowski Organizacja
Bojowa or ŻOB) and the Jewish National Committee (Żydowski Komitet
Narodowy or ŻKN) were formed.63 The resistance groups received help
from other groups outside the ghetto and they signified the realization
that single acts of resistance did little to increase the chance of survival.
Much of the funding for the resistance groups was from wealthy Jews,
which allowed them to obtain weapons for an armed resistance.64 After
1942, the uprising was primarily fueled by the will to survive. Many
Jews who participated believed that if they did not resist, they would be
deported to an extermination camp or die within the ghettos. A resistance
fighter in Warsaw stated, “These actions weren’t exactly my pride and
joy. Naturally, I preferred to work against the Germans, but
circumstances dictated our methods. . . ‘Taking care of’ those who
denounced and turned Jews in was not to my liking either. But did we
have a choice?”65 Nazis and Jews were both killed during the uprising,
and in the end, the Jews failed. Ultimately, many resisted in order to
avoid extermination in in the concentration camps or a slow death within
the ghetto walls themselves. More importantly, the resistance signified
the strength of the Jewish community to unite and their will to survive.
62
Rueben Ainsztein, The Warsaw Ghetto Revolt, (New York: Holocaust
Library, 1979), 58.
63
Ibid., 60.
64
Imha Rotem (Kazilk), Memoirs of a Warsaw Ghetto Fighter (New Haven:
Yale University Press, 1994), 25.
65
Ibid., 29.
81
Holocaust Ghettos
Although the community of Lodz did not carry out an armed
resistance, they did resist with other methods. Similar to that of Warsaw,
in 1942, many Jews within Lodz realized that the ghettos were being
used as an extermination tool, and to be deported was to be sent to one’s
death. On September 5, 1942, Jozef Zelkowicz wrote, “on Rybna Street
the police have to take people out of their apartments. There they are
encountering resistance…And what strength the ghetto people have.
After three years of hunger, after three years of bitter enslavement, they
still endure such days as this one.”66 Refusing to obey the commands of
the Nazis and trying to escape were the main forms of resistance in Lodz.
Not many people of Lodz resisted, because it was believed that if they
worked hard and were productive, the Nazis would let them live longer.
This plan worked to a certain extent; “The factories bought time for tens
of thousands, but the Jews were playing a pre-determined game in which
the out-come was always under German control.”67 Ultimately, there was
no organized armed resistance, like in Warsaw. Rather, there were
individual forms of resistance primarily, because there was little contact
with those outside the ghetto in Lodz, hence, they did not receive much
aid. Isaiah Trunk argued that “This absolute isolation from the outside
world and the awareness of powerlessness were not conductive to
creating a combative mood inside the Ghetto.”68 Moreover, the people of
Lodz believed that if the community remained together, strong, and
continued to be productive, they would survive. The mentality for an
armed resistance did not exist, but a mentality of resistance in a general
sense did.
In the final years of the ghettos (1943-1944) the Nazis began the
final liquidation process. Most of the Jew which remained in the ghettos
were sent to concentration camps. In Lodz, between “December 1943
and January 1944 tens of thousands were deported from there to their
deaths” and there were only 80,000 Jews left in Lodz in May 1944.69 On
August 2, 1944 Rumkowski posted an announcement in the ghetto that
declared 5,000 “evacuees” must report daily to the Radogoszcz station
and the first transport left at 8:00 AM.70 Thus, by 1943, those who
survived the epidemics, starvation, and the executions were being
liquidated and sent to die at the extermination camps. In Warsaw, a year
earlier, the final attempts of liquidation occurred and they were either
killed on the spot or sent to die at the extermination camps. In January
66
Raul Hilberg, “The Ghetto as a Form of Government,” Annals of American
Academy of Political and Social Science 450, (1980): 103.
68
Isaiah Trunk, “Why Was There No Armed Resistance Against the Nazis in the
Lodz Ghetto?” Jewish Social Sciences 43, no. 3/4 (1981): 329.
69
70
Ibid., 440.
67
82
Rebecca Parraz
1943, 40,000 Jews were left in Warsaw and on January 18 the Nazis
began their second “extermination operation.”71
Ultimately, ghettoization began as a process of creating a
“Jewish absence” in the cities. By 1939, Nazis created a plan to expel
Jews from the “German Empire.” Thus, at the same time, this created a
“Jewish absence” and a “Jewish presence.” The latter was located within
the walls of the Jewish ghettos. Essentially, the ghettos became a city
within a city. In both Lodz and Warsaw, the people began to unite and
form a community. They would play cards, have small gatherings in
homes, and watch performances. The community looked out for one
another, and just as in the Warsaw ghetto, groups, such as the House
Committee, were formed and gave aid to those who needed it.
Ultimately, the formation of a community within the ghettos united the
Jews, and for many, the creation of a community resulted in a stronger
will to survive. This fueled many of the forms of resistance in the
ghettos. Resistance within the ghettos was common as Jews began to
recognize the destruction of their community. The people of Lodz chose
smaller acts of resistance, such as disobedience, rather than armed
resistance like in Warsaw. There was no one type of resistance within the
ghettos and those who chose to act against the Nazis and assert their right
to live resisted. However, with the swarming epidemics, constant threat
of starvation, the executions, random shootings, cramped living quarters,
and poor conditions in the Lodz and Warsaw ghettos, the number of
daily deaths increased and thousands died within the walls. The rising
number of deaths within the ghettos marked the transition to “Holocaust
ghettos.” Within a “Holocaust ghetto,” death was imminent and there
was no sense of a community. By 1943, the liquidation process had
begun and thousands more were deported to concentration camps and
killed. The communities that once existed within the walls were
completely destroyed and death loomed over the people of Lodz and
Warsaw. Thus, the ghettos had transitioned into “Holocaust ghettos” and
became another tool used in the Final Solution.
71
Sloan, 358.
83
Holocaust Ghettos
Bibliography
Adelson, Alan, and Robert Lapides. Lodz Ghetto. New York: Viking,
1989.
Adelson, Alan, Kamil Turowski, and Lawrence Langer. The Diary of
Dawid Sierakowiak. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.
Ainsztein, Rueben. The Warsaw Ghetto Revolt. New York: Holocaust
Library, 1979.
Browning, Christopher. “Nazi Ghettoization Policy in Poland: 19391941.” Central European History 19, no. 4 (1986): 343-368.
Cole, Tim. Holocaust City: The Making of a Jewish Ghetto. New York:
Routledge, 2003.
Fass, Mosche. “Theatrical Activities in the Polish Ghettos during the
Years 1939-1942.” Jewish Social Studies 38, no 1 (1976): 54-72.
Fertig, Howard. The Jewish Communities of Nazi-Occupied Europe.
New York: Howard Fertig Inc., 1982.
Friedman, Phillip. “The Jewish Ghettos of the Nazi Era.” Jewish Social
Studies 16, no. 1 (1954): 61-88.
Hilberg, Raul. “The Ghetto as a form of Government.” Annals of
American Academy of Political and Social Science 450 (1980):
98-112.
Lichten, Joseph L. and Kryżankowski Ludwik. “Adam Czerniaków and
His Times.” The Polish Review 29, no. 1/2 (1984): 71-89.
Mogilanski, Roman. The Ghetto Anthology. Los Angeles: American
Congress of Jews from Poland and Survivors of Concentration
Camps, 1985.
Rotem (Kazilk), Simha. Memoirs of a Warsaw Ghetto Fighter. New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1994.
Sloan, Jacob. Notes from the Warsaw Ghetto. New York: McGraw-Hill
Book Company, 1958.
84
Rebecca Parraz
Trunk, Isaiah. “Why Was There No Armed Resistance against the Nazis
in the Lodz Ghetto?” Jewish Social Studies 43, no. 3/4 (1981):
329-324.
85
Holocaust Ghettos
Author Bio
Rebecca A. Parraz is a recent graduate of California State University,
San Bernardino and completed a B.A. in History during the fall quarter
of 2013. Currently, she is working on her M.A. in History at California
State University, Fullerton and is expecting her first child in August
2014, a boy to be named Gabriel. At CSUF, Rebecca plans to further her
studies on the Holocaust and Nazi Germany. She began her pursuit for a
higher education at Mt. San Jacinto College where she earned an AA in
Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Social and Behavioral Sciences, and an
AA in Liberal Arts with an emphasis on Humanities. After Rebecca
obtains her teaching credentials, she plans to teach history on a
secondary education level and one day plans to teach classes about the
Holocaust at two year colleges. Rebecca wants to thank everyone who
supported her, especially Dr. Pytell, who inspired her to reexamine and
question history, as well as encouraged her to continue working in
Holocaust Studies.
86
Shellie Shimmel
The Role of the Prison-Industrial Complex in
Demilitarization, Corporate Outsourcing, & Immigration
Policy
By Shellie Anna Shimmel
Abstract: The traditional system of justice in the United States, based on
the goals of retribution, incapacitation, rehabilitation, deterrence, and
restitution, has been replaced with a corporate model of mass
punishment based on profits, expediency, and the exploitation of free
labor. This corporation is known as the “Prison-Industrial Complex”
(“PIC”), and is made up of an enormous, interweaving system of
correctional institutions, profit-driven corporations, and politicians.
Some question whether the builders of the Prison-Industrial Complex
could have predicted the outcome of their actions, but in fact their
actions were orchestrated to produce certain results. Corporate
executives and politicians are well educated and intelligent people. The
Prison-Industrial Complex did not just happen by chance, but was
planned out. The goal of the PIC is not the social good of imprisoning
the minimum number of inmates possible for the least amount of time
necessary to maintain public safety, deter crime, and rehabilitate
offenders. Rather, the PIC profits from having as many prisoners as
possible, incarcerating them long-term, providing little-to-no
rehabilitation services, and caring for them as cheaply as possible. Our
criminal justice system has been hijacked to increase the wealth and
power of politicians and corporations, as well as to replace low-to midrange jobs lost to military downsizing and corporate outsourcing.
The Current Crisis
The United States currently has the largest prison system in the world,
and incarcerates more of its own people than China, and even Russia.1
Roughly 1,000 new jails and prisons have been built across the U.S. over
the past few decades, including almost two dozen in California, but the
U.S. correctional system is more overcrowded today than it was when
the building spree first began. 2 The prison system in California has been
kept packed to the rafters with inmates since the 1990s, incarcerating
1
See Figure 1.
Eric Schlosser, “The Prison-Industrial Complex,” The Atlantic Monthly,
accessed June 20, 2012, www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/199812/prisons.
2
87
The Role of the Prison Industrial Complex
almost 175,000 inmates at its peak in 2006, and is the most overcrowded
prison system in the U.S.3
In studying overcrowding in California’s prison system, the
Criminal Justice Center at Stanford Law School found that “California’s
prison population has grown from 20,028 in 1975 to 167,264 in 2010 (an
increase of approximately 735%). During that same time period,
California’s overall population grew from 21,537,000 to 36,961,664 (an
increase of roughly 72%).”4 As a result, the California Department of
Corrections is now one of the state’s largest employers with 33 state
prisons, and 33,000 employees.5 Likewise, the California Correctional
Peace Officers Association is now the largest and most powerful labor
union not only in California, but also in the entire United States.6
The cost of supporting the massive growth in California’s prison
system is at the expense of higher education. It costs California taxpayers
approximately $10 billion dollars annually to support the PrisonIndustrial Complex, and since funding for both the state prison system
and the state university system comes from the same General Fund,
funding for higher education has been cut to help pay for more prisons.7
According to former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger,
prison spending has increased over the past 30 years from 3% of the
General Fund to 11%. During the same time period, spending for higher
education was reduced from 10% to 7.5% with students having to make
up the difference in the form of record tuition increases. In a speech
made in January 2010, the former governor also said, “Spending 45%
more on prisons than universities is no way to proceed into the future.”8
With regard to the effects of prison overcrowding, several
lawsuits for civil rights violations have been brought by California
inmates in recent years citing cruel and unusual punishment due to the
3
Joseph M. Hayes, “Just the Facts: California’s Changing Prison Population,”
Public Policy Institute of California, accessed May 14, 2012,
www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702.
4
Stanford Law School Criminal Justice Center, “California Corrections Facts
and Figures,” accessed May 3, 2012,
www.law.stanford.edu/display/images/dynamic/events_media/CaliforniaCorrect
ionsOverview.pdf.
5
National Public Radio, “California Budget Held Captive by State Prisons,”
accessed June 9, 2012,
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106606909.
6
UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies, “California Correctional
Peace Officers Association,” accessed May 9, 2012,
www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/research/quickhelp/policy/social/ca_prison_union.
html.
7
National Public Radio.
8
Derrick Z. Jackson, “Common Sense on Prison and Education Funds,” The
Boston Globe, accessed May 26, 2012,
www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles.
88
Shellie Shimmel
severe overcrowding. One of these cases, Brown, et al. v. Plata, et al.
(2011) was appealed all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court by the PIC,
which refused to comply with orders from the lower courts. It required a
ten-year legal battle, and repeated intervention by the U.S. Supreme
Court, to force the PIC to start the process of releasing inmates to ease
the inhumane overcrowding. After sending investigators, the Court was
shocked to discover, among other things, that prisoners were being held
in cages the size of telephone booths, the state was routinely failing to
provide at least minimal health care to inmates, and that 15-20 inmates
were forced to share a single toilet. In order to restore the prison system
to compliance with the Eighth Amendment, the Court ordered that the
prison population, which was at over 200% of design capacity, be
reduced to 137.5% of design capacity within 2 years.9
In response to the U.S. Supreme Court’s order, California
Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 109 and AB 117 in early 2012. These
bills ordered that low-level, non-violent inmates be transferred from the
state prison system to county jails. Being that California’s jails were also
suffering the plight of severe overcrowding, the state soon began
releasing inmates from custody altogether, and putting them on probation
instead.
Why did the PIC fight so hard for so long to hold onto the people
in its custody? The reason is because not only does the PIC provide
desperately needed jobs for correctional officers and prison staff, as well
as economic support to their local communities, but it also provides
prison labor to dozens of large U.S. corporations. Labor formerly
performed by unionized U.S. citizens is now performed by convicts in
U.S. prisons instead.10
Slavery was officially abolished in the U.S. with the passage of
the 13th Amendment in 1865. California’s State Constitution, Article 1, §
6,11 like all other U.S. states, has an exception to abolition in the form of
penal servitude, however. Every state in the U.S. currently takes
advantage of this exception by owning and operating prison industries.12
Eve Goldberg and Linda Evans, prisoners at the Federal Correctional
Institution in Dublin, California wrote:
9
Brown, Governor of California, et al. vs. Plata, et al., Appeal for the United
States District Courts for the Eastern and Northern District of California, no. 091233, argued November 30, 2010 - decided May 23, 2011.
10
Tracy F.H. Chang & Douglas E. Thompkins, “Corporations Go to Prisons:
The Expansion of Corporate Power in the Correctional Industry,” Labor Studies
Journal 27, no.1 (2002): 45-69.
11
California State Constitution, accessed May 12, 2012,
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.const/.article_1
12
Chang & Thompkins, 45-69.
89
For private business, prison labor is like a pot of gold.
No strikes. No union organizing. No health benefits,
unemployment insurance, or worker’s compensation to
pay. No language barriers, as in foreign countries. New
leviathan prisons are being built on thousands of eerie
acres with factories inside the walls. Prisoners do data
entry for Chevron, make telephone reservations for
TWA, raise hogs, shovel manure, make circuit boards,
limousines, water beds, and lingerie for Victoria’s Secret
– all at a fraction of the cost of ‘free labor.’13
Other U.S. corporations, such as: Microsoft, Motorola, Texas
Instruments, Honeywell, Boeing, IBM, and Revlon, also take advantage
of prison labor.14 Many of the empty factories and office buildings now
common on the U.S. landscape are a result of the shift to prison
industries.
Background
How did all this happen? Let us take a look at some recent history.
Former U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned us in his famous
1961 speech, Farewell Address to the Nation, against creating a
“Military-Industrial Complex.” He feared the growing fusion between
corporations and the armed forces posed a serious threat to democracy.15
President Eisenhower explained that the rivalry between the U.S. and the
former Soviet Union during the years following World War II (the “Cold
War” era) “compelled the United States to create a permanent armaments
industry of vast proportions.” As a result, he said, “We annually spend
on military security alone more than the net income of all United States
corporations combined.” He further warned, “The potential for the
disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never
let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic
processes.” The U.S. government, however, paid no heed to these
warnings and built an enormous war industry anyway. C. Wright Mills
described it as being “a coalition of generals in the roles of corporation
13
Angela Davis, “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison- Industrial
Complex,” ColorLines News for Action, accessed June 19, 2012,
http://colorlines.com/archives/1998/09/masked_racism_reflections_on_the_pris
on_industrial_complex.html.
14
15
James Kurth, “Military-Industrial Complex,” in The Oxford Companion to
American Military History, ed. John Whiteclay Chambers II (Oxford & New
York: Oxford University Press, 1999), 440-42.
90
Shellie Shimmel
executives, of politicians masquerading as admirals, of corporation
executives acting like politicians.”16
After the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s, continued
financial support for the Military-Industrial Complex became difficult to
justify politically. At this point, the government began downsizing the
Armed Forces by closing several military bases. California was hit
hardest, shouldering the loss of almost 100,000 military and civilian jobs
within the Department of Defense, and suffering 53.8% of the military
cuts for the entire country.17
The Prison-Industrial Complex soon replaced the MilitaryIndustrial Complex,18 and several events were coordinated to facilitate
this transition. The drug laws signed in 1973 by former New York State
Governor Nelson Rockefeller are the starting point of the PIC. They
established strict mandatory prison terms for the possession or sale of
illegal narcotics based on the drug’s weight. The U.S. prison population
quickly began to skyrocket as a result.19
Former U.S. President Ronald Reagan continued the movement
by declaring a “War on Drugs” and appointing a “Drug Czar” to oversee
the battle. The passage of President Reagan’s Anti-Drug Abuse Acts of
1986 and 1988 established much tougher mandatory prison sentencing
for crack cocaine versus powdered cocaine. Crack cocaine is used
primarily in lower class African American and Latino communities,
while powdered cocaine is more prevalent among middle to upper class
Whites. Therefore, these biased laws worked to ensure an
overrepresentation of lower class African Americans and Latinos in the
prison population, and helped drive the most massive wave of
imprisonment in United States history.20
Largely as a result of these racially biased laws, African
Americans comprised 46% of the prison population at the national level
in 2001 while only comprising 12% of the total U.S. population.21 In
2008, California’s prison population was 29% African American22 even
16
Andrew J. Bacevich, “The Tyranny of Defense Inc.,” The Atlantic Monthly,
accessed February 28, 2014,
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/the-tyranny-of-defenseinc/308342/2.
17
Michael Freedman and Tim Ransdell, “California Institute Special Report:
California’s Past Base Closure Experiences and the 2005 BRAC Round.”
California Institute for Federal Policy Research, accessed July 2. 2012,
www.calinst.org/defense/base1a.pdf.
18
Davis.
19
See Figure 2.
20
21
Ibid.
22
California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation, “California Prisoners
and Parolees 2009; Summary Statistics on Adult Felon Prisoners and Parolees,
91
though African Americans comprised only 6.6% of the total population
in California.23 Nationally, African Americans were incarcerated at five
times the rate of Whites, and Latinos were incarcerated at three times the
rate of Whites.24
Additionally, an estimated 60-80% of prison inmates in the U.S.
have substance abuse problems. Since the PIC profits from recidivism,
however, drug treatment programs have been cut by more than half since
1993. This has turned California’s prison system into a revolving door
for “poor, highly dysfunctional, and often illiterate drug abusers.”25
While the U.S. government was downsizing the MilitaryIndustrial Complex in the late 1980s to mid-1990s,26 the U.S.
corporations had already begun downsizing by outsourcing
manufacturing jobs to Third World countries. Nationally, 5.3 million
manufacturing jobs were lost from 1979 through 2007. U.S. corporations
have created windfall profits for themselves by exploiting cheap labor,
including child and prison labor, in foreign countries such as China,
Mexico, and India.27
Manufacturing was the mainstay industry for blue collar workers
in the U.S., a disproportionate number of whom were African American.
Many workers who were laid off due to corporate outsourcing resorted to
selling drugs, particularly crack cocaine, because it was inexpensive to
make, in order to provide for their families. This led to the now-infamous
“Crack Wars” of the 1980s.28
African Americans and Latinos, the segments of the U.S.
population hit hardest by manufacturing outsourcing,29 were then used
for political and corporate profit by the PIC. These people were the
intended targets of President Reagan’s anti-drug legislation which was
created by politicians in cooperation with corporate executives to further
Civil Narcotic Addicts, and Outpatients,” Offender Information Services
Branch, Sacramento, accessed May 3, 2012,
www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Services_Branch/A
nnual/CalPris/CALPRISd2009.pdf.
23
United States Census, 2011, accessed May 12, 2012,
www.quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html.
24
25
Schlosser.
26
Freedman & Ransdell.
27
James H. Johnson, Jr. et al., “Economic Globalization and the Future of Black
America,” Journal of Black Studies 38, no. 6 (2008): 883-899.
28
Craig Reinarman & Harry G. Levine, “Crack in the Rearview Mirror:
Deconstructing Drug War Mythology,” Social Justice 31, no. 1/2 (2004): 182199.
29
Johnson, Jr. et al., 883-899.
92
Shellie Shimmel
the expansion of the PIC.30 This racist repression and exploitation eroded
the legitimacy of the U.S. criminal justice system. 31
In order to continue the expansion of its prison-for-profit empire,
the PIC launched the “Tough on Crime” movement in the early 1990s.
They utilized a media campaign of scare tactics to frighten voters into
passing harsh new state legislation. Their use of inaccurate inmate
stereotypes in disturbing political ads, as well as the politicizing of the
disturbing Polly Klaas child abduction and murder case in Sonoma
County, California in 1993, caused Californians to believe that harsher
prison sentences were needed in order to keep the public safe from
predatory career criminals.32
By this time, the PIC was showing significant profits, and small
companies such as Wackenhut and the Correctional Corporation of
America (CCA) were turned into mega-corporations.33 With money
comes power, and the PIC obtained enough to send lobbyists to
Washington, D.C. to lobby for stricter laws to keep those already behind
bars in prison for longer periods of time, and to increase the penalties for
recidivism.34 These new laws condemned millions of Americans, mostly
poor African Americans and Latinos,35 to longer prison terms with the
passage of the “Truth in Sentencing” and “Three Strikes” laws in 1994.36
The “Truth in Sentencing” Law requires that prison inmates
serve a minimum of 85% of their sentence before becoming eligible for
parole. Time off for good behavior (“good time credits”), work
furloughs, halfway houses, and even the model of rehabilitation itself
became a thing of the past. The “Three Strikes” Law, before it was later
modified by the U.S. Supreme Court, mandated a 25-years-to-life prison
sentence for any third offense, even something as minor as stealing food,
which resulted in “third strikers” receiving life sentences for petty theft
or drug abuse.37 The debate continues over Three Strikes being an
30
Reinarman & Levine, 182-199.
32
Public Broadcasting System, “The Legacy: Murder & Media, Politics &
Prisons,” accessed March 4, 2012,
www.pbs.org/pov/thelegacy/film_description.php.
33
34
Tanya Golash-Boza, “The Immigration Industrial Complex: Why We Enforce
Immigration Policies Destined to Fail,” Sociology Compass 3, no. 2 (2009): 295309.
35
36
National Public Radio.
37
Schlosser.
31
93
effective crime deterrent, and whether it was responsible for the
subsequent drop in crime rates in the late 1990s.38
Additionally, former President Bill Clinton did his part to keep
the PIC’s empire growing by advocating for, and signing, the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. This act created new
federal crimes, and mandated even more severe prison sentencing. It also
budgeted $30 billion dollars to hire more police officers, and to build
more prisons.39
The Major Player
The PIC’s largest corporation, the Correctional Corporation of America
(CCA), is headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. It was co-founded by
Thomas W. Beasley, the former chairman of the Tennessee State
Republican Party. Mr. Beasley’s political connections gave CCA the
positioning it needed to aggressively lobby for lucrative government
contracts. Several high-ranking state government officials own stock in
CCA, giving state government leaders a financial incentive to imprison
their own citizens.40
As of 2012, CCA had custody of approximately 80,000 prisoners
in 64 facilities across the United States, and has profited so greatly from
political cronyism, the “War on Drugs,” and massive new legislation
they have expanded globally. CCA now provides full management
services for prisons in countries such as Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the
U.K., France, Australia, and South Africa. They openly market prison
building as a way to replace lost manufacturing jobs, and to create
economic development in impoverished rural areas. Additionally, there
are more than 1,000 private vendors profiting from the PIC, providing
everything from food to toilet paper.41
Immigration Profits the PIC
Stricter laws created and support the Prison-Industrial Complex, and
today immigration does as well. With the build-up of the MilitaryIndustrial Complex during the Cold War, the enemies were the
38
Mike Males, et al., “Striking Out: The Failure of California’s ‘Three Strikes
and You’re Out’ Law,” Justice Policy Institute, accessed May 9, 2012,
www.cjcj.org/files/strikingout.pdf.
39
40
Ibid., 50.
41
Corrections Corporation of America, “Facilities,” accessed June 19, 2012,
http://www.correctionscorp.com.
94
Shellie Shimmel
Communists. During the expansion of the Prison-Industrial Complex in
the1990s, the enemies were criminals; mostly lower class African
American and Latino males with substance abuse problems.42 Today,
with the construction of the Immigration-Industrial Complex, the
enemies are undocumented immigrants who are criminalized by being
labeled “illegal aliens,” and have been described in the media as
freeloaders, predatory villains, drug traffickers, and even terrorists.43 For
all three of these industries, the creation of an enemy of the state, or as
sociologists call it, “other-ization,” was necessary to garner popular
support for massive government spending of taxpayer dollars under the
guise of safeguarding the nation. This tactic provides huge moneymaking opportunities for politicians and the corporations they do
business with, such as MCI, Lockheed Martin, Unisys, and not
surprisingly, Halliburton.44
Shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, the Immigration
and Naturalization Service (INS) was renamed Immigration & Customs
Enforcement (ICE), and was placed under the newly-created Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). It was at this point the U.S. government
made immigration an issue of national security and began criminalizing
undocumented immigrants. Soon media commentators such as Lou
Dobbs, Glenn Beck, and Bill O’Reilly were sounding the alarm that our
country was being “over-run” by “hordes of invaders” carrying out the
“reconquista” of the American Southwest.45 Also, during this time,
many Americans found undocumented immigrants to be appropriate
scapegoats for our current economic troubles, blamed them for taking
jobs from Americans, and causing wage deflation.46
In order to fight off the invasion by these newly-defined enemies
of the state, the budget for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol was nearly
doubled from $5.8 billion in 2003 to $10.1 billion in 2008. Similarly, the
budget for ICE was increased from $3.2 billion in 2003 to $5 billion in
2008. The budget for ICE alone in 2008 was double what the entire INS
budget was in 1996. These massive budget increases, however, have not
42
Schlosser.
Leo R. Chavez, “The Minuteman Project’s Spectacle of Surveillance on the
Arizona-Mexico Border,” in The Latino Threat: Constructing Immigrants,
Citizens, and the Nation (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008), 132-151.
44
Tanya Golash-Boza, “A Confluence of Interests in Immigration Enforcement:
How Politicians, the Media, and Corporations Profit from Immigration Policies
Destined to Fail,” Sociology Compass 3, no.2 (2009): 283-294.
45
Ibid., 285.
46
Ibid., 289.
43
95
resulted in a decrease in the population of undocumented immigrants in
the U.S.47
As of 2009, the number of undocumented immigrants in this
country totaled over 12 million (that we know of), and Congress has
failed to pass effective immigration reform to deal with them because of
the profits being made from detaining them. 48 Almost 300,000 people are
currently being held in immigrant detention centers in the U.S.,49 and the
California state prison at Lompoc is now entirely devoted to the
detention of undocumented immigrants.
In addition to immigrant detention centers run by the states,
some are run by ICE and others by private corporations such as CCA,
which won its first government contract to build an immigrant detention
center in Houston in 1984. CCA later saw its annual revenue increase
from $50 million in the early 1990s to $462 million in 1997. It was at
this point CCA began building speculative prisons – excess prison space
for inmates who did not yet exist. Their expectation was that the harsh
new crime laws, such as “Three Strikes,” would provide a steady stream
of warm bodies in the years to come. 50
Prison incarceration rates, however, began to level off a few
years later. By 2000, CCA was left with 8,500 empty prison beds, and
over $1 billion dollars of debt. Teetering on bankruptcy, their saving
grace was the U.S. government’s criminalization of immigration after
9/11. CCA was able to use federal lobbying to gain more government
contracts, and soon their empty prisons were filled with thousands of
newly apprehended undocumented immigrants.51
To be specific, CCA’s lobbying expenses skyrocketed from
$410,000 in 2000 to $3 million in 2004, and this spending in Washington
was effective for not only filling their empty beds, but also for gaining
new contracts to build even more prisons. In 2007, CCA spent $2.5
million lobbying on legislation and regulations related to the private
prison industry, and in 2008 they built a new 3000-bed detention facility
in San Diego, California. CCA and their prison-for-profit competitor
Wackenhut are paid about $100 per day by the DHS for each detainee in
their custody, and now continue to show annual revenue increases. Not
47
Golash-Boza, “The Immigration Industrial Complex: Why We Enforce
Immigration Policies Destined to Fail,” 295-309.
48
49
Aarti Kohli, et al., “Secure Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of
Demographics and Due Process,” The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on
Law and Social Policy, October, 2011, unknown access date,
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Secure_Communities_by_the_Numbers.pdf.
50
Golash-Boza, “A Confluence of Interests in Immigration Enforcement: How
Politicians, the Media, and Corporations Profit from Immigration Policies
Destined to Fail,” 283-294.
51
Ibid., 290.
96
Shellie Shimmel
only has lobbying Washington greatly benefitted CCA, but their political
connections have as well. The former head of the Federal Bureau of
Prisons, J. Michael Quinlan, is one of CCA’s top executives.52
In a related study conducted by UC Berkeley Law School in
2011, it was found the U.S. immigration system processes people into
detention facilities very quickly without giving them the opportunity to
legally challenge their detention and/or deportation. It was also
discovered a large number of the people in immigration detention should
never have been taken into custody. For example, approximately 3,600
U.S. citizens have been held in ICE detention for undocumented periods
of time, and in secretive conditions, from the inception of the agency
through 2010.53
Further, profiling is suggested by the over-representation of
young Latino males in immigration detention. Latinos comprise 93% of
the individuals arrested for undocumented status although they comprise
only 77% of the undocumented population in the United States.54 Also,
little is known about what happens to people once they are booked into
ICE detention centers, or privately-run immigrant detention facilities, as
authorities do very little record keeping regarding the duration of
immigrant detentions, what is done with immigrants while in detention,
or even why immigrants are in detention in the first place. 55
Unlike criminal defendants, immigration detainees are not
afforded the basic procedural protections and transparency that comes
with U.S. criminal proceedings. They are denied access to attorneys,
many are denied bail due to harsh mandatory detention laws, and they do
not have the right to trial in the venue where they were arrested, but
rather are routinely transferred thousands of miles away to remote
detention facilities in far off jurisdictions. Many detainees have been
transferred numerous times among various facilities, and this has had
devastating effects on their families.56 In addition, ICE fails to follow its
own risk-based policies and guidelines when determining whether or not
someone should be detained; instead choosing to arbitrarily detain people
for unspecified periods of time. 57 This constitutes a total lack of due
process, and provides unlimited fodder for the Immigration-Industrial
Complex.
52
Ibid., 290-91.
Kohli, et al.
54
Ibid., 2.
55
Ibid., 4-6.
56
Ibid., 7.
57
Ibid., 9.
53
97
Conclusion
In understanding the creation and interconnectedness of these three huge
industries, it becomes clear there must have been some grand design for
the predicament the U.S. criminal justice system finds itself in today.
Motivated by desire for financial and political gain, powerful U.S.
politicians have created structural inequalities in our social and justice
systems to marginalize the poor, the non-white, and the non-citizen.58
These politicians, along with corporate executives, have built fiefdoms
for themselves off the profits of processing these marginalized people
through the Prison-Industrial Complex59 and the Immigration-Industrial
Complex.60 They have also been willing to routinely violate the civil and
constitutional rights of American citizens by subjecting our prison
inmates to torturous living conditions on a daily basis to maximize their
profits.61
Additionally, it required repeated intervention by the U.S.
Supreme Court over a period of ten years to force the PIC to begin the
process of bringing our state prison system back into U.S. Constitutional
compliance. 62 Hopefully, the action taken by the Court, combined with
California’s current economic struggles (of which the PIC is largely
responsible), will force the PIC to restore our prison system to its proper
and intended purpose, rather than continuing to use it as a means to
exploit the poor and enrich themselves.
58
59
Schlosser.
60
61
Brown, Governor of California, et al. vs. Plata, et al.
62
Ibid., 1.
98
Shellie Shimmel
Bibliography
Bacevich, A.J.“The Tyranny of Defense Inc.” The Atlantic Monthly.
January 4, 2011. Accessed February 28, 2014.
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2011/01/thetyranny-of-defense-inc/308342/2/.
Brown, Governor of California, et al. v Plata, et al. Appeal for the
United States District Courts for the Eastern and Northern
District of California, no. 09-1233. Argued November 30, 2010 Decided May 23, 2011.
California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation. “California
Prisoners and Parolees 2009; Summary Statistics on Adult Felon
Prisoners and Parolees, Civil Narcotic Addicts, and Outpatients,
Sacramento.” Offender Information Services Branch, 2009.
Accessed May 3, 2012.
www.cdcr.ca.gov/Reports_Research/Offender_Information_Serv
ices_Branch/Annual/CalPris/CALPRISd2009.pdf.
California State Constitution. Accessed May 12, 2012.
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/.const/.article_1.
Chang, Tracy F.H. and Douglas E. Thompkins. “Corporations Go to
Prisons: The Expansion of Corporate Power in the Correctional
Industry.” Labor Studies Journal 27, no. 1 (2002): 45-69.
Chavez, Leo R. “The Minuteman Project’s Spectacle of Surveillance on
the Arizona-Mexico Border.” In The Latino Threat:
Constructing Immigrants, Citizens, and the Nation. Stanford:
Stanford University Press, 2008.
Corrections Corporation of America, “Facilities.” 2012. Accessed June
19, 2012. http://www.correctionscorp.com.
Davis, Angela. “Masked Racism: Reflections on the Prison- Industrial
Complex,” ColorLines News for Actions. September 10, 1998.
Accessed June 19, 2012.
http://colorlines.com/archives/1998/09/masked_racism_reflectio
ns_on_the_prison_industrial_complex.html.
Freedman, Michael and Tim Ransdell. “California Institute Special
Report: California’s Past Base Closure Experiences and the 2005
BRAC Round.” California Institute for Federal Policy Research.
April, 2005. Accessed July 2, 2012.
www.calinst.org/defense/base1a.pdf.
99
Golash-Boza, Tanya. “A Confluence of Interests in Immigration
Enforcement: How Politicians, the Media, and Corporations
Profit from Immigration Policies Destined to Fail.” Sociology
Compass 3, no. 2 (2009): 283-294.
--------. “The Immigration Industrial Complex: Why We Enforce
Immigration Policies Destined to Fail.” Sociology Compass 3,
no. 2 (2009): 295-309.
Hayes, Joseph. M. “Just the Facts: California’s Changing Prison
Population.” Public Policy Institute of California. 2012.
Accessed May 14, 2012.
www.ppic.org/main/publication_show.asp?i=702.
Jackson, Derrick Z. “Common Sense on Prison and Education Funds.”
The Boston Globe, January 9, 2010. Accessed May 26, 2012.
www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles.
Johnson, James Jr., H. Burthey III, C. Grover, and Kevin Ghorm.
“Economic Globalization and the Future of Black America.”
Journal of Black Studies 38, no.6 (2008): 883-899.
Kohli, Aarti, Peter L. Markowitz, and Lisa Chavez. “Secure
Communities by the Numbers: An Analysis of Demographics
and Due Process.” The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute on
Law and Social Policy. October, 2011. Unknown access date.
https://www.law.berkeley.edu/files/Secure_Communities_by_the
_Numbers.pdf.
Kurth, James. Military-Industrial Complex. In The Oxford Companion to
American Military History. Edited by John Whiteclay Chambers
II. Oxford & New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.
Males, Mike, Dan Macallair, and Khaled Taqi-Eddin. “Striking Out: The
Failure of California’s ‘Three Strikes and You’re Out’ Law”.
Justice Policy Institute. 1999. Accessed May 9, 2012.
www.cjcj.org/files/strikingout.pdf.
National Public Radio. “California Budget Held Captive by State
Prisons.” July 15, 2009. Accessed June 9, 2012.
www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=106606909.
Public Broadcasting System. “The Legacy: Murder & Media, Politics &
Prison.” Posted by PBS June 1, 1999. Accessed March 4, 2012.
www.pbs.org/pov/thelegacy/film_description.php.
10
Shellie Shimmel
Reinarman, Craig & Harry G. Levine. “Crack in the Rearview Mirror:
Deconstructing Drug War Mythology.” Social Justice 31, no. 1/2
(2004): 182-199.
Schlosser, Eric. “The Prison-Industrial Complex.” The Atlantic Monthly,
December 1, 1998. Accessed June 20, 2012.
www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/199812/prisons.
Stanford Law School Criminal Justice Center. “California Corrections
Facts and Figures.” Stanford University. 2010. Accessed May 3,
2012.
www.law.stanford.edu/display/images/dynamic/events_media/C
aliforniaCorrectionsOverview.pdf.
UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies. “California Correctional
Peace Officers Association.” University of California, Berkeley.
2010. Accessed May 9, 2012.
www.igs.berkeley.edu/library/research/quickhelp/policy/social/c
a_prison_union.html.
United States Census. 2011. Accessed May 12, 2012.
www.quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/06000.html.
101
Prison Population Per 100,000
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
0
737
615
334
235
148
11 8
30
Worldwide Prison Population s
Figure 1: “Prison Populations by Country.” International Centre for Prison
Studies. 2006.
Figure 2: “Sentenced Male Offenders:1920-2012”
10
Shellie Shimmel
Race:
1974
1991
2001
White Male
2.2%
4.4%
5.9%
White Female
0.2%
0.5%
0.9%
Black Male
13.4%
29.4%
32.3%
Black Female
1.1%
3.6%
5.6%
Latino Male
4.0%
11.1%
17.2%
Latino Female
0.4%
1.5%
2.2%
Figure 3: T.P. Bonczar. “Prevalence of Imprisonment in the U.S. Population,
1974-2001.” Washington, DC: Bureau of Justice Statistics. 2003.
103
Author Bio
Shellie Shimmel earned her bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from
California State University, San Bernardino in 2012, and will graduate
from CSUSB in 2014 with a second bachelor’s degree in Psychology.
Ms. Shimmel is currently serving an internship through the CSUSB
Psychology Department where she works with inner-city at-risk youth in
an afterschool theatre arts and music program, and is enjoying learning
more about the African American community. She plans to enter
graduate school at CSUSB in Fall 2014 to earn a Master of Science in
Clinical Counseling Psychology. Her long-term goal is to become a
licensed Marriage & Family Therapist, and to work with crime victims,
veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, and their families. Ms.
Shimmel lives in San Bernardino, California with her Chihuahua Lupe
Lou, and hopes this article will help bring about much-needed reform in
our criminal justice system.
10
Alex Ponce
By Alex Ponce
Abstract: In 1953, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), together with
the British Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), organized a coup to
overthrow the democratically elected Prime Minister Mohammad
Mossadeq (1882-1967). While much has been written about the coup,
little attention has been given to the U.S. propaganda that preceded the
operation. From 1950 to 1953, the U.S. launched a series of propaganda
campaigns in Iran. Drawing from U.S.-Iranian correspondences,
memoirs, journal articles, and secondary sources, this paper seeks to
shed light on the U.S. and CIA perceptions of Iranian receptivity to
propaganda from 1950 to 1953. What did CIA officials like Kermit
Roosevelt and Donald Wilber learn from this coup and why did they
consider it a success? What were Henry F. Grady’s perceptions of the
effects these propaganda tactics would create and why were they ignored
or silenced? Going beyond our understanding of the coup and the
reasons for why it was carried out, this research will deepen and enrich
our knowledge of U.S. interventionist policies and the blowback that can
come as a result of those policies.
Part 1 – Introduction and Historical Context
In 1948, the Iranian parliament rejected a Russian oil concession in
northern Iran.1 The National Front, the party to which Mohammad
Mosaddeq belonged, and representatives who sympathized with the
British were worried about Russian influence in Iran and they were the
major opponents of the concession.2 Not to be outdone, the
representatives who sympathized with Russia’s effort for an oil
concession called for a bill to terminate the 1933 oil contract between
Britain and Iran. While the proposal was immediately rejected by British
sympathizers, Mossadeq and the National Front only opposed the bill at
first.3 In 1949, however, Mossadeq and the nationalists would
reintroduce the proposal after they opposed the Supplemental Oil
agreement, which was to increase royalties from oil to Iran from 17 to 24
1
Ervand Abrahamian, “The 1953 Coup in Iran,” Science and Society 65, no. 2
(2001).
2
Ibid.
3
Ibid.
105
percent.4 Mossadeq and the nationalists were not content with the
proposal, especially because it did not address what they considered to be
the country’s most important grievances. This momentum sparked the
effort to nationalize Iran’s oil.
After the assassination of Prime Minister Ali Razmara on March
7, 1951, the push for nationalization was underway. In fact, the Majlis
passed a bill the next day authorizing the nationalization of Iran’s oil.
Mohammad Mosaddeq was elected prime minister in April and in May
he declared all AIOC assets nationalized, cancelling the company’s oil
concession.5 To enforce the new law, the Majlis sent deputies to Abadan,
where the largest AIOC refinery was located, marking the beginning of
the dispute.6
Since the beginning of the oil dispute, there were always two
very different perspectives on the issue. On one side, the Iranians
articulated their political right to control their country’s assets and based
it on their desire for national independence from foreign influence.7 The
British, however, viewed Iran’s effort to nationalize their oil as a breach
of contract, calling out Iran on disrespect for the AIOC and Britain’s
controlling stock of the company.8 What Mossadeq and the nationalists
were concerned about was not so much the royalties, or lack thereof, that
they were receiving from the AIOC, but rather the control over the oil
industry process, everything from extraction to distribution.9 The British,
in turn, saw the nationalist desire for control as a direct threat to their
position as a world power.10 In their effort to maintain control of Iran’s
oil, Britain arranged for a Western boycott, which delivered a devastating
blow to Iran’s economy.11
In the midst of this dispute, the United States (under the Truman
administration) stepped in as mediator between Britain and Iran. Mary
Ann Heiss, a U.S. foreign relations scholar, would argue that the role that
Orientalism played in US-Iranian relations was more important than U.S.
intervention in the dispute. According to Edward Said, Orientalism is a
4
Ibid.
Ervand Abrahamian, Iran between Two Revolutions (Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1982), 266.
6
Ibid.
7
Mary Ann Heiss, “Real Men Don’t Wear Pajamas: Anglo-American Cultural
Perceptions of Mohammad Mossadeq and the Iranian Oil Nationalization
Dispute,” in Empire and Revolution: The United States and the Third World
Since 1945, ed. Peter L. Hahn and Mary Ann Heiss (Ohio: Ohio State University
Press, 2001).
8
Ibid.
9
Ibid.
10
Abrahamian.
11
Mark J Gasiorowski, Mohammad Mossadeq and the 1953 Coup in Iran
(Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2004).
5
10
Alex Ponce
Western perception of the people and culture of the Orient, heavily
infused with notions of Western superiority of lifestyle and culture.12
Heiss argues that this Orientalist view played a heavy hand in the
eventual orchestration of the coup, stating that, “the end result of
orientalization of Mossadeq was an increasingly rigid Anglo-American
position on the oil crisis that eschewed compromise or concessions and
ultimately saw removing him from office as the only acceptable course
of action.”13 As a note on the topic, Orientalism is often assumed to be
based on prejudice or racism and that the Orientalism that Heiss refers to
did not necessarily come from racial prejudice. While it is tempting to
assume racism on behalf of the United States and Great Britain, Ervand
Abrahamian explains that the pervasiveness of this Orientalist perception
came not as a result of prejudice, but “because of the clash of economic
interests between imperialism and nationalism.”14
After numerous attempts to negotiate a settlement between
Britain and Iran, the United States under the Eisenhower administration
opted to use covert action. The 1953 coup, under the supervision of Allen
W. Dulles (1893-1969), would become the first covert operation by the
CIA. As part of the effort to carry out the coup, propaganda projects
were actively used to set the stage. These tactics were carried out with
the intent to influence politics and society in a way that would create
hostility toward the nationalists and, more specifically, Mohammad
Mossadeq.
Part 2 – The Content and Purpose of Propaganda
When considering U.S. propaganda abroad, it is important to remember
that the history changed significantly in 1948. During the First and
Second World Wars, there were already limited international information
exchange services being carried out as war measures.15 In times of peace,
however, the United States had generally opposed government
propaganda and information services, both domestic and foreign. Burton
Paulu, who wrote extensively on the Smith-Mundt Act (1948), a law that
dealt specifically with dissemination of propaganda abroad, gave several
reasons for the delay in government broadcasting: (1) the U.S. had no
incentive to promote propaganda, (2) the U.S. was not politically isolated
like Russia, (3) there was no U.S. system of colonies to bind together,
and (4) the privately owned radio broadcasters were opposed to
12
Edward W. Said, Orientalism (New York: Pantheon Books, 1978).
Heiss.
14
Abrahamian.
15
Burton Paulu, “The Smith-Mundt Act: A Legislative History,” Journalism
Quarterly (1953).
13
107
government broadcasting out of fear that they would not be able to
compete.16 When anti-American propaganda from Germany and Italy in
the 1930s was being disseminated, however, the U.S. reluctantly and
gradually began to respond.17
After World War II and during the Cold War, propaganda
became entrenched in an anti-Soviet and anti-communist agenda. More
importantly, it became a critical component of U.S. foreign policy.
Pitting Western powers against the Soviet Union and its allies, U.S.
foreign policy became much more about containment and isolation. As
Richard W. Cottam noted in his work, the geographic location of Iran,
being that it shared a border with the Soviet Union and was essentially a
gateway into other Middle Eastern countries, was of primary concern for
the United States.18As learned in the previous section, Iran was also an
important source of oil for the West.
Due to anti-communism becoming the dominant structure of
U.S. foreign policy, the need to strategically spread Western ideas was
addressed in Congress. In 1947, Senator H. Alexander Smith (18801966) and Representative Karl Mundt (1900-1974) presented a study of
the ideological state of Europe and the Middle East. The study concluded
that the United States was losing what they called the “battle of ideas.” In
response to this crisis, congress approved a counter-communist,
propaganda program called the U.S.I.E., formally known as the SmithMundt Act of 1948.19 For the first time in history, the new law authorized
the use of U.S. propaganda activity abroad and gave the State
Department permission to conduct cultural and informational exchange
programs on a long term basis.20 Interestingly, the legislation did not
permit the program to use propaganda in the United States.21
The USIE program made its way to Iran in the 1950s through a
short term ambassador named Henry F. Grady. A close friend of George
McGhee, Assistant Secretary for Near Eastern, South Asian and African
affairs, Henry F. Grady had previous experience with propaganda
projects in Greece and was sent by Secretary of State Dean Acheson to
direct the USIE program in Iran .22 Grady was a staunch anti-communist,
anti-imperialist, and firm supporter of Iranian nationalism. His vision for
16
Ibid.
Ibid.
18
Richard W. Cottam, Nationalism in Iran: Updated through 1978 (Pittsburgh:
University of Pittsburgh Press, c.1979)
19
United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, Pub. L. No.
402, § 2 (1948).
20
Paulu.
21
United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948.
22
Stephen Kinzer, All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of
Middle East Terror (Hoboken, New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 2003), 86-87.
17
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the USIE in Iran was not only to fend off the influence of the Soviet
Union but to assist in the social and economic improvement of Iran.
Much like Richard Cottam, Ambassador Grady understood the
importance of the strategic location of Iran and the value of its national
resource. In his memoirs he states that:
Iran is on the periphery of Russia and is important not
only because of its strategic location but also because it
has extraordinarily valuable natural resources…Iran is
the corridor through which the Soviets could move into
the Middle East, to Africa, to Pakistan, India, and
Southeast Asia. The Soviet Union needs the great oil
resources of this area to achieve its ambitions of world
domination. Iran is therefore strategic in both a
geographic and raw material sense.23
Based on this assessment, we can conclude that two of Grady’s main
concerns were securing the borders and oil fields of Iran and preventing
Soviet encroachment. In order to accomplish this, Grady proposed that
the propaganda tactics that were to be used in Iran needed to be
concentrated in areas where Iranians were most susceptible. For Grady,
the most susceptible places were ones with the poorest economic
conditions, and therefore it should not come as surprise that he would
target both urban and rural populations where economic conditions were
in that state .24
Assisted by Edward C. Wells, another state department official,
Grady put together a plan in Tehran and delivered it to the Department of
State.25 In a correspondence to the Department of State in July of 1950,
Grady listed his objectives for the program:
Objective: To ensure that Iranians are informed about
and understand U.S. policy, particularly with regard to
the following:
a.) Extending the effectiveness of U.S. support for Iran’s
security and the assurance that “Iran does not stand
alone.”
b.) Providing monetary aid to Iran.
23
Henry F. Grady, The Memoirs of Ambassador Henry F. Grady: From the
Great War to the Cold War (Missouri: University of Missouri Press, 2009), 159.
24
Ibid., 140.
25
Henry F. Grady and Edward C. Wells, Proposed New Program for USIE, Iran
(Washington D.C.: 1950), Document 6,
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB78/propaganda%20006.pdf
.
109
c.) Firmness toward USSR and determination to prevent
further encroachment on free nations.
d.) U.S. is anti-imperialist, has no colonial aspirations,
and determined that each nation has the right to work out
its destiny.
e.) The free world is an interrelated whole with mutual
interests.26
We can see in this plan that Grady put heavy emphasis on building an
amicable relationship between the U.S. and Iran. In order to achieve this
goal, Grady suggested that Iranians need to be informed about U.S.
policy and convince them that it holds Iran’s best interest. By “best
interest,” Grady was referring to the security of the country from the
USSR and the financial assistance for economic autonomy. Further into
the correspondence, Grady lists the methods by which each objective
would be met, including the introduction of U.S. material into Iran’s
educational system, the promotion and use of U.S. materials, motion
pictures, exhibits, pamphlets, radio programming, branch offices at
consulates, establishing libraries, and the training of Iranians to maintain
all these programs.27
Without belaboring the agenda that Grady set out, we can
understand his intentions with the information at hand. As time passed,
Grady sent more correspondences to Washington to update the State
Department on what he perceived to be a successful campaign. In an
October 1950 correspondence to Secretary of State Dean Acheson,
evidence can be found of Grady’s perception of Iranian receptivity of
U.S. propaganda. According to the correspondence, the Iranian
Propaganda department, which the USIE used to operate discreetly, was
taking an “increasingly anti-communist pro-American line; the
impression created among general public is simply that American aid is
here; mullahs in two mosques publically sermonizing against
communists, which have been repeated by Iran radio; more anticommunist newspapers are starting up; and the ‘chins up Iran’ campaign
is standing by to be released by press, radio, and posters.”28 As we can
see from Grady’s assessment, his perception of Iranian receptivity to the
covert actions of the USIE is a positive one, reinforced by the increase in
anti-communist and pro-American activity. Even with regard to
monetary aid, Grady is convinced that the general impression by the
26
Ibid.
Ibid.
28
Henry F. Grady, U.S.-Iranian Joint Propaganda Efforts (Washington D.C.:
1950), Document 10,
27
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public is that America is here to help. This notion of success will be
revisited when the propaganda campaigns move in a different direction.
It was briefly mentioned earlier that radio broadcasts were one
method of transmitting U.S. propaganda, but little explanation has been
offered as to why radio propaganda was more important than other forms
of dissemination. Unlike newspapers and other print materials, Iranian
radio stations could reach a broader spectrum of society.29 A 1951 study
of Iranian males concluded that there was a prevalent ideological
division in newspaper choices, meaning right-leaning men would not
read left-leaning newspapers and vice versa.30 Therefore, the use of print
materials to propagandize Iranians was limited in its effects on an
audience that was already committed to an ideology. In comparison to
newspapers, radio broadcasting produced more effective results. As
Mervyn Roberts would suggest, “physically controlling the stations in
Iran was of greater importance to the overthrow of Mossadeq than the
CIA propaganda program leading up to the coup, as station control
disseminated messages farther.”31
After the collapse of negotiations and the approval of the coup,
CIA director Allen W. Dulles approved a one-million dollar budget for
the Tehran Station, which could use the money in any way that would
contribute to the fall of Mosaddeq .32 Often the radio programs that ran
through Radio Tehran broadcasted messages that labeled Mosaddeq as a
sympathizer of the Tudeh party, an enemy of Islam, and a fomenter of
separatism. 33 In addition to the anti-Mosaddeq messages, the station at
times also ran pro-shah messages. Regardless of the stations’ approach,
there was one consistency that seemed to resonate with all Iranians,
Iranian nationalism. Any reference to Iran’s glorious secular past or anticolonial stance was perceived by the CIA as much more receptive to the
Iranian people. 34 Even the competing radio stations that supported
Mosaddeq attempted to sway public opinion by appealing to this
notion.35 When carefully and strategically disseminated to the public, the
CIA learned that anti-imperial and pro-Iranian messages could garner far
more support than any other talking point they pushed on the radio.
What is important to remember when assessing the success of
this radio propaganda is that it did not operate inside of a vacuum. The
CIA review after the coup, which was written by Dr. Donald Wilber,
stresses the idea that the covert propaganda tactics used did not directly
29
Mervyn Roberts. "Analysis of Radio Propaganda in the 1953 Iran
Coup." Iranian Studies 45 (2012): 759-777.
30
Ibid., 759
31
Ibid.
32
Ibid, 761.
33
Ibid, 762.
34
Ibid, 777.
35
Ibid.
111
lead to the success of the coup.36 There were times when the CIA was
limited in their ability to insert propaganda in Iranian media and there
were times when the CIA’s efforts backfired. Wilber makes reference to
a post-operation, CIA study in Newsweek magazine, which described the
overall effort of the CIA as a “relatively ineffectual venture” and that
there was room for “improvement of capabilities.”37 In the end, the
effectiveness of propaganda was a matter of trial and error on behalf of
CIA operatives, who had to learn the complex media culture in order to
mobilize and direct latent passions at critical moments.38 Often what
factored into success were the actions of Mosaddeq and the Tudeh
combined with controlled radio broadcasting, which swayed public
opinion to oppose Mossadeq in the end.39
Part 3 – Comparing Perceptions Before and After 1953
After the nationalization of oil in 1951, Henry F. Grady was replaced as
Ambassador to Iran by Loy Henderson. The decision to replace him
came partially as a result of the bad relationship that Grady developed
with Dean Acheson. Also, Grady was increasingly outspoken about the
United States’ dealings with Britain on Iran. The coming of Henderson
and the dismissal of Grady foreshadows a very significant shift in the
direction of foreign policy in Iran and consequently the propaganda used
for its implementation.
One of the main concerns that the U.S. had about the
nationalization of oil was the opportunity it might give the Soviet Union
to exert influence on Iran’s distribution. If they could not get Iran to
come to an agreement with Britain it would threaten “the free flow of
Iranian oil into the economy of the free world,” as President Truman
would say.40 At the same time, the U.S. did not want to appear to be
completely partial to the British side on this issue. As Secretary of State
Dean Acheson wrote to the U.S. embassy in Tehran, “while in general
the U.S. does not favor nationalization, U.S. recognizes the right of
sovereign states to nationalize provided prompt payment for just
36
Donald Wilber, Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran, November 1952August 1953 (Washington D.C., March 1954), 85,
http://www2.gwu.edu/~nsarchiv/NSAEBB/NSAEBB28/#documents.
37
Ibid, 86.
38
Mervyn, 777
39
Ibid.
40
“President Truman to Prime Minister Attlee (No 25),” in Foreign Relations of
the United States 1952-1954 vol X Iran 1951-1954 (Washington D.C.: U.S.
Government Printing Office, 1989), 60.
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compensation is made.”41 Interestingly, the Secretary of State did not
want to make this policy pubic because there was genuine concern that
other nations might want to nationalize their oil as well. These
circumstances subsequently put the U.S. in a difficult situation for next
two years, resulting in the eventual siding with British policy.
If anyone could see the dangerous consequences that would
result from siding with the British on this oil issue it was Henry Grady.
In a letter to the State Department Grady wrote “it is my strong
conviction that British policy has been and is one that may lead to
disaster in this country [Iran]. If we decide to let them call all the plays,
we will absorb a large part of the present deep antagonism toward the
British.”42 Grady considered British policy to be imperialist, using
economic pressure in an effort to maintain control, and if the U.S. sided
with Britain it would essentially support the same practices. Out of
disillusion and frustration, he resigned from his post in September 1951
and left Iran.
Since the U.S. and Britain were getting nowhere close to
reaching a settlement with Iran, talks of overthrowing Mossedeq and
reinstating the shah increased. In an effort to accomplish that goal, a
continuation and modification of the propaganda tactics that were
already in place went into effect. As we will see in the subsequent
paragraphs, the shah will become a much more important component,
more discrepancy will be used, and the target audiences of propaganda
will change.
In a November 21, 1951, correspondence between Loy
Henderson and Dean Acheson, Henderson addresses the need to shield
Iranian press and public from criticism of U.S. press regarding Iranian
attitude in the oil dispute.43 Instead, he suggests that Voice of America
(VOA), a U.S. run international radio show, transmit U.S. press and
public criticism of Prime Minster Mossadeq’s oil policy.44 He argues that
this would be wiser because it would “convey the idea that the U.S. is
generally sympathetic with Iranian aspirations for full economic and
political independence but inclined to think that Iranians have allowed
themselves to be swept by emotions into a position which puts them in
41
“The Secretary of State to the Embassy in Egypt (No. 10),” in Foreign
Relations of the United States 1952-1954 vol. X Iran 1951-1954 (Washington
D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989), 27.
42
“The Ambassador in Iran (Grady) to the Department of Sate (No. 77),” in
Foreign Relations of the United States 1952-1954 vol. X Iran 1951-1954
(Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989), 149.
43
Loy Henderson and Dean Acheson, Iranian Oil Policy (Washington D.C.:
1951) Document 41,
.
44
Ibid.
113
light unfair to themselves and renders it extremely difficult for their
American friends to aid them without appearing to approve of their
somewhat rash actions and rather unreasoning attitude.”45 Henderson
then went on to say that the Iranians would also be assured that the U.S.
understands the “Iranian position for urging Britain to also show more
flexibility.”46 The most important part of the correspondence is in the last
sentence, however, where Henderson makes mention of the Shah saying
“we deem it equally helpful for VOA programs, whenever appropriate, to
indicate the desires of people in the U.S. to help Iranian people in every
possible way and to make a friendly reference to the Shah as their
progressive leader.”
Most correspondences prior to this one by Henderson made little
mention, if any, of the Shah, much less as a “progressive leader.” What
begins to be seen in 1952 is a more repeated mention of the Shah. For
example, in an April 28, 1952, correspondence between Edward C. Wells
and Ambassador Henderson, Wells outlined a new propaganda plan for
Iran. It was still based on much of the same objectives that were in place
two years earlier, (e.g. anti-communism, anti-Soviet) but their priorities
had changed in regards to who this propaganda was targeting. In his
letter to Henderson, Wells stated that the target audience for U.S. direct
anti-communist propaganda are:
1. The Shah, Royal Court, and wealthy landowners.
2. University professors and students, secondary school teachers
and students, professional men, including government
employees.
3. Leaders of public opinion amongst illiterate masses, Mullahs,
village headmen, tribal chiefs, etc.
4. Labor leaders and army officers.47
Wells argued that this “conservative group [the Shah, his court, and
landowners] is vitally interested in preserving Iran’s integrity, which if
they could be stirred to more positive action would represent the
strongest possible rallying point for all anti-communist elements. By
reason of the strength of their position, they should be able to orient the
country toward our direction.”48 Wells then listed the secondary target
groups, such as students and laborers, making mention of their higher
susceptibility to Soviet influence while claiming that they represented the
45
Ibid.
Ibid.
47
Edward C. Wells, IIA: Country Plan (Washington D.C.: 1952), Document 60,
.
48
Ibid.
46
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“public opinion molders.”49 It is ironic that Wells would say that these
groups are at most risk of being influenced by communism and still
argue that if the Shah, his court, and the wealthy elite “could be stirred to
more positive action would represent the strongest possible rallying point
for all anti-communist elements.”50 The point that being made here is
that, for whatever reason, a greater deal of importance was being placed
on the Shah, especially when it came to who the USIE thought would be
most receptive to U.S. propaganda.
When the U.S. and Britain finally decided to replace Mosaddeq
with General Fazullah Zahedi, a massive propaganda campaign was
organized to create and enhance public hostility towards Mosaddeq and
the government by manufacturing the belief that Mosaddeq was
sympathetic to communism. Putting aside the military success or failure
of the coup, the CIA thought the worst result that the propaganda
campaign could produce was instability for Mosaddeq. As per Wilber’s
post-operation report, even if the operation failed, the dissemination of
propaganda would at least make the “the position of Mosaddeq
increasingly vulnerable and unsteady.”51 Therefore, we can conclude that
the purpose of propaganda just prior to the coup was ultimately to create
instability.
The themes of the propaganda were very similar to the ones used
when Grady was still ambassador. The difference, however, was that one
of the main themes of this campaign was convincing the public that
Mosaddeq was a communist and that he had close ties with the Tudeh.52
Following in line with this theme was spreading the idea that he was
dealing directly with the Soviets and that he was planning on
surrendering the Northern provinces to the Soviet Union.53 In addition to
this false accusation, Mosaddeq was blamed for any downturn in the
economy. 54 One new line of slant that was added to the collection,
however, was that Mosaddeq “had become the unwitting victim of his
unscrupulous personally ambitious advisors.”55 In other words, he was
becoming corrupt and dictatorial.
To fuel anti-Mosaddeq sentiment, the CIA also targeted religious
leaders. Using false information, also known as black propaganda,
attempts to rally their support were carried out spontaneously. For
example, CIA agents would send fake statements from the Tudeh
threatening religious leaders with severe punishment if the party learned
49
Ibid.
Ibid.
51
Wilber.
52
Ibid.
53
Ibid.
54
Ibid.
55
Ibid.
50
115
of any opposition to Mosaddeq.56 Some agents even wanted to carry out
terrorist attacks on a massive scale. In fact, details in the original plan
included that, “on the appointed day, staged attacks will be made against
respected religious leaders in Tehran.”57 The attacks would then be
supplemented with “U.S. station fabricated documents which prove and
record in detail a secret agreement between Mosaddeq and the Tudeh,
with the latter promising to use all their force in support of Mossadeq
and against the religious leaders, the army, and the police”.58 These plans
reveal the CIA’s perception of religious leaders, which was that by
continuously tying Mosaddeq to the Tudeh and instilling fear in these
leaders, they could rally religious Iranians to the cause. By promoting
divisions, the CIA made considerable strides in loosening Mosaddeq’s
support base, especially the religious nationalists who were once on his
side.
As mentioned previously, perhaps one of the most interesting
developments at this point was the addition of a separate propaganda
campaign that would invite the Shah to step up to the task. As Stephen
Kinzer would remind us, the Shah was reluctant to comply with the U.S.
and Britain. The Shah thought that unless they assured him that both
governments would offer their complete support, he would not go
through with the plan.59 Dr. Wilber recounts in his report the frustration
on behalf of the CIA in dealing with the Shah because of his “entrenched
attitude of vacillation and indecision.”60 Over time his personal defenses
would fall and his compliance would be won. It can be argued that more
than anything the Shah was forced to comply, especially when the U.S.
and Britain threatened to do whatever necessary to prevent communist
intrusion. To add to the threat, the U.S. and Britain also made it clear that
if anything went wrong with the operation, he would face the
repercussions and his dynasty would undoubtedly come to an end.
More importantly, this pressure on the Shah helps us understand
why the propaganda campaign changed priorities in terms of its target
audience. The Shah, the royal court, and the wealthy elite were targeted
directly and indirectly to ensure not only that they would cooperate with
the CIA and SIS, but to become convinced that the operation served their
best interests. What this reveals is that the CIA and Britain perceived that
the top tier of Iranian could be persuaded, whether it was by force or by
threat.
After overthrowing of Mossadeq, the CIA and their Iranian
collaborators were still entrusted to continue a propaganda campaign to
56
Wilber, 29.
Ibid.
58
Ibid.
59
Kinzer.
60
Wilber.
57
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return stability and retain a friendly image for the West. In September of
1953, Edward C. Wells, who was still heavily involved, laid out new
recommendations for the propaganda projects to come. Wells makes it a
priority to say that “‘allaying Iranian distrust’ should not be
overstressed.”61 It seems that the embassy and the USIE did not want to
overdue their efforts to regain Iranian trust. Otherwise, they would begin
to look more suspicious of their involvement in the coup. Among the
recommendations that Wells made to the new Secretary of State, he
suggested that the media use themes that stress “coordination and
cooperation of Shah and Zahedi, which would benefit Iran; the Shah and
Zahedi’s progressive social programs; and the praising of the August 19
events.”62
Dr. Donald Wilber and Kermit Roosevelt shared similar views
about the success of the operation, especially with regard to the
propaganda. In the final chapter of his report, Wilber said of the work
done with the press that,
In July and early August every segment of the press with
which we or the U.K. had working relations went all out
against Mosaddeq. As judged by the public reactions on
the days following 16 August, there can be no doubt
whatsoever that this campaign had reached a very large
audience and had directly influenced their thinking in a
most positive way. A separate analysis of this press
operation should be made to serve as a basic guidance in
mounting future campaigns.63
Based on this excerpt, we can argue that Wilber not only thought that the
propaganda was successful but exemplary as well. The last sentence is
especially significant. Prior to this operation, there was no discussion of
adopting these tactics and using them in other circumstances. Although
Wilber was not necessarily suggesting that there would be another coup
in the near future, he knew that the propaganda plans used in this
operation could be used as a guide. About year after TPAJAX, in 1954,
the CIA would perform another coup in Guatemala, where propaganda
played a very similar role.
61
Edward C. Wells, Media Guidance Regarding Iran (Washington D.C.: 1953),
Document 108,
.
62
Ibid.
63
Wilber.
117
Kermit Roosevelt’s view of success was based on what he called
a correct assessment of the situation and the people they contracted for
the job. In the final page of Countercoup, he says,
We were successful in this venture because our
assessment of the situation in Iran was correct. We
believed—and we were proven right—that if the people
and the armed forces were shown that they must choose,
that Mosaddeq was forcing them to choose, between
their monarch and a revolutionary figure backed by the
Soviet Union, they could, and would, make only one
choice. With some help from us, but mostly because of
Mosaddeq, the Tudeh and eventually the USSR itself,
forced the choice upon them, the populace made a
choice. And most convincingly. The people and the
army came, overwhelmingly, to the support of the Shah.
You can have no idea from here—you really had to be in
Iran—of the heartfelt strength of that support.64
As we can see in his statement, Roosevelt thought that the success of the
coup was based on the fact that people wanted Mosaddeq out and the
Shah back in. This idea stands in stark contrast to some of the most basic
facts about Mosaddeq and his popularity. While it is true that
Mosaddeq’s support base was not always cohesive, there is evidence to
suggest that he was still more popular than the Shah. Henry Grady once
pointed out that, “Mosaddeq had the backing of 95 to 98 percent of the
people of his country.”65 Granted, this was before the operation
commenced, but it is difficult to suggest that this base entirely fell apart
because of artificially created uprisings and propaganda. Roosevelt
argued that because the coup was successful, however, his assessment
(and the CIA’s assessment) about the people’s attitude toward Mosaddeq
were correct. Further in the chapter, he went on to say, “if our analysis
had been wrong, we’d have fallen flat on our faces. But it was right.”66
Just like Wilber, Roosevelt thought that, “if we, the CIA, are ever going
to try something like this again, we must be absolutely sure that the
people and army want what we want.”67 When he was offered the
opportunity to lead the Guatemalan operation, however, he turned it
down.
64
Kermit Roosevelt, Countercoup: Struggle for the Control of Iran, (New York:
McGraw-Hill, 1979), 210.
65
Kinzer, 98.
66
Roosevelt, 210
67
Ibid.
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According to the State Department, there were three main
propaganda problems that the U.S. faced after deposing the prime
minster: (1) a charge that the U.S. had a hand in deposing Mosaddeq, (2)
a charge that Zahedi was a U.S. puppet, and (3) the myth that Mosaddeq
was the Iranian grand man.”68 To address these issues, the State
Department made it their policy to deny their involvement in foreign
domestic affairs. To prove their point, National Security Council 5428
(NSC 5428) was sent to all psychological programs in the Middle East,
asking them to include the following in their agenda:
Convince local leaders and peoples that the age of
Western Imperialism is over; and that Western positions
are being willingly readjusted in an enlightened manner
and with full respect for the national independence of
sovereign equality of the Near Eastern states as rapidly
as the interests of security allow.69
Contrary to what the policy states, the 1953 coup was still an act of
imperialism, albeit a subtle one.
Part 4 – Conclusion
Since the beginning of the oil crisis, it was clear that securing Western
control over Iran’s oil supply was a top priority of both Great Britain and
the United States. Subsequently, the decision to go forward with the coup
was based on this premise, which runs contrary to the common
knowledge that Cold War geopolitics was the main reason for
overthrowing Mosaddeq. Although there is no reason to doubt that Cold
War politics played some part in the decision, it was not the primary
reason for interfering in Iran’s internal politics. For this reason, the
United States used propaganda to affect public opinion and stir up antiMosaddeq sentiment.
The United States and Great Britain got everything they wanted
from the 1953 coup, including the denationalization of oil. Additionally,
they kept the Shah as an ally, as compliant with their agenda in the
region. The blowback of this operation, however, would come in the
form of anti-American sentiment, boiling over in the 1979 revolution.
68
Theodore C. Streibert, Revitalized Propaganda Campaign for Iran; Attached
to Transmittal Sheet (Washington D.C.: 1953), Document 107,
69
National Security Council. United States Objectives and Policies with Respect
to the Near East (Washington D.C.: 1954), Document 127,
119
When the revolution came, the monarchy was toppled and the ties to
Western interests were cut off. Essentially, the coup backfired over time,
and greatly damaged Iranian trust in the United States.
While CIA officials like Wilber and Roosevelt saw immediate
success and gain from the operation, Grady saw the long term
consequences that coup would bring to Iran and the United States. He
warned the coup would be “utter folly” and that it would push Iran into
“a status of disintegration with all that implies.”70 And although Grady
was outspoken about the U.S. and Great Britain’s policy, his assessments
were ultimately ignored, resulting in his reassignment. Richard Cottam,
who was also a close observer of the coup and its aftermath, had a
similar assessment to that of Grady. His post-1953 assessment of the
coup was that “U.S. policy did change Iran’s history in a fundamental
way…In helping eliminate a government that symbolized Iran’s search
for national integrity and dignity, it helped deny the successor regime
nationalist legitimacy.”71
70
71
12
Kinzer, 215.
Ibid.
Alex Ponce
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Abrahamian, Ervand.“The 1953 Coup in Iran.” Science and
Society 65, no. 2 (2001).
--------. Iran between Two Revolutions. Princeton, NJ: Princeton
University Press, 1982.
Cottam, Richard W. Nationalism in Iran: Updated through 1978.
Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1979.
Foreign Relations of the United States, 1952-1954 Vol. X Iran 19511954. Washington D.C.: U.S.Government Printing Office, 1989.
Gasiorowski, Mark J. Mohammad Mossadeq and the 1953 Coup in
Iran. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 2004.
Grady, Henry F. and Edward C. Wells, Proposed New Program for
USIE, Iran. Washington D.C.: 1950.
--------. The Memoirs of Ambassador Henry F. Grady: From the
Great War to the Cold War. Missouri: University of
Missouri Press, 2009.
--------. U.S.-Iranian Joint Propaganda Efforts. Washington D.C.: 1950.
Heiss, Mary Ann. “Real Men Don’t Wear Pajamas: Anglo-American
Cultural Perceptions of Mohammad Mossadeqand the Iranian
Oil Nationalization Dispute.” In Empire and Revolution: The
United States and the Third World Since 1945. Edited by Peter
L. Hahn and Mary Ann Heiss. Ohio: Ohio State University
Press, 2001.
Henderson, Loy and Dean Acheson. Iranian Oil Policy.
Washington D.C.: 1951.
Kinzer, Stephen. All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the
Roots of Middle East Terror. Hoboken, New Jersey: John
Wiley & Sons Inc., 2003.
National Security Council. United States Objectives and Policies
with Respect to the Near East. Washington D.C.: 1954.
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Paulu, Burton. “The Smith-Mundt Act: A Legislative History.”
Journalism Quarterly (1953).
“President Truman to Prime Minister Attlee (No 25).” In Foreign
Relations of the United States 1952-1954 Vol. X Iran 1951-1954.
Washington D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1989.
Roberts, Mervyn. "Analysis of Radio Propaganda in the 1953 Iran
Coup." Iranian Studies 45 (2012).
Roosevelt, Kermit. Countercoup: Struggle for the Control of Iran.
New York: McGraw-Hill, 1979.
Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon Books, 1978.
Streibert, Theodore C. Revitalized Propaganda Campaign for
Iran; Attached to Transmittal Sheet. Washington D.C.:
1953.
Wells, Edward C. IIA: Country Plan. Washington D.C.: 1952.
--------. Media Guidance Regarding Iran. Washington D.C.: 1953.
Wilber, Donald. Overthrow of Premier Mossadeq of Iran,
November 1952-August 1953. Washington D.C., March
1954.
12
Alex Ponce
Author Bio
Alex Ponce currently holds a BA in History from CSUSB, and is
finishing up his first year of student teaching. He will have his Single
Subject Social Science teaching credential this June, and hopes to begin
teaching this coming academic year.
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Joshua Edmundson
Development in Southern California after World War II:
Architecture, Photography, & Design
By Joshua Robb Edmundson
Abstract: The midcentury architecture and design phenomenon was born
as California’s urban landscape exploded in the post-World War II era.
It was driven by the arrival of millions of veterans as they returned from
the war eager to begin new lives and families. The promise of great
economic opportunity, as well as spectacular natural beauty and weather
attracted many of these who moved to the Golden State. They attended
colleges and universities and helped to build sprawling cities, freeway
systems, and suburbs. This massive surge of development created a
haven for a generation of architects, designers and photographers who
introduced a new way of thinking about the way people lived. This paper
explores midcentury modernity from its source in the Bauhaus to its
heyday in Palm Springs, perhaps the world’s greatest mecca of
midcentury architecture. This time of growth sparked the development of
entirely new styles in furniture design and manufacture, technology, and
fashion that complimented that era of prosperity and optimism. There
were many unique professionals who contributed to the legacy of
midcentury architecture and design that we pursue, such as; in
architecture, Richard Neutra, in photography Julius Shulman and
Charles and Ray Eames, each has contributed to the legacy of the era.
Introduction
Being surrounded by spectacular and distinctive architecture in Palm
Springs, as well as working as a guide on the Sunnylands estate, have
sparked a passion in me for all things midcentury. In this paper, I have
traced modernism as it appeared in architecture in Palm Springs to its
historical roots, both in terms of the individuals who shaped a distinct
midcentury modern aesthetic, and also the social historical context into
which that aesthetic was introduced in Southern California. By tracing
the emergence of modernist architecture in Palm Springs to its historical
antecedents we see that architecture tells us more about a community
than just an individual homeowner’s or designer’s sense of style; it tells
us about how individuals viewed their place in the community and in the
world at a particular moment in time.
125
Development in Southern California after World War II
Figure 1. Sunnylands, A. Quincy Jones, 1963, Photo by the author, 2013.
In the years following the end of World War II, the United States
underwent a massive social, technical, and domestic transformation. The
beaches and year-round sunshine in California attracted millions of
veterans in this time of optimism and exponential growth, causing the
popul tion of the Golden State to soar. This necessitated a flurry of
construction of every kind, from vast suburbs and freeway systems to
hospitals libraries, museums, and schools. In this essay, we will explore
this era of building, some of its notable architects, and Palm Springs, a
midcentury architectural jewel in the California desert.
The Post WWII Years and the G.I. Bill
Following the end of World War II, the G.I. Bill made it possible for
veterans to attend college, and millions of them did. From this
opportunity a new generation of upwardly mobile Californians arose, and
a new phenomenon called suburbia appeared. This was an era in which
anything was possible, from molded fiberglass furniture, to sleek modern
steel and glass homes cantilevered over cliffs or canyons. These “space
age” homes were filled with gadgets of every kind, each designed for
easy living in the modern age. Journalist and architecture expert,
Deborah K. Dietsch stated that in the postwar world, “unprecedented
prosperity led to a consumer boom in both America and Europe that
allowed ordinary people from California to Copenhagen to live better
than ever before.”1
As million of servicemen and servicewomen returned from the
war, President Franklin D. Roosevelt was concerned with the coming
1
Deborah K. Deitsch, Classic Modern Midcentury at Home (New York: Simon
& Schuster, 2000), 12.
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Joshua Edmundson
transition of a new generation of veterans who needed to assimilate into a
society at peace. The president desired a smoother transition from the
wartime to peacetime home front and economy than had occurred after
World War I. According to a Special Series report on NPR Radio
Diaries, during the Great Depression millions of World War I veterans
across the United States became homeless; our wartime heroes were
starving and desperate for help from the government for which they had
sacrificed so much. As a result, thousands of veterans converged on
Washington D.C. to demand early payment of a promised veteran’s
bonus, thus becoming known as The Bonus Army. They set up camps
throughout the capitol, which soon caused panic in the Hoover
administration. Federal troops were sent in to disperse the veterans,
which led to bloody clashes, the death of two veterans, and the torching
of the Bonus Army’s encampments. Images of the mayhem quickly
spread, causing outrage across the nation.
Understandably, President Roosevelt was eager to avoid another
similar disaster. This led to the Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, more
commonly known as the G.I. Bill, which had unexpected popularity, and
“more than 2,250,000 American veterans received…their college
education as a result of legislation known as the G.I. Bill.”2 These
college graduates became engineers, teachers, scientists, doctors, and
other well-paid professionals, who were in many cases in positions to
purchase larger and more luxurious private single-family dwellings than
had previously been the case for many Americans. Midcentury
architects like Richard Neutra, A. Quincy Jones, and William Cody
provided the modern designs that became the homes of the new
American workforce.
The Building Boom: New Styles for a New Generation
The Great Depression had an enormous impact on the lives of people
across America. Many lost their homes; those who did not often lived in
multi-generational dwellings or remained in old housing. Due to these
problems, housing construction slowed significantly and came to a near
standstill during the war years when resources were funneled to support
the war effort. The result of this phenomenon was that the affluent and
growing generation of educated Californians after WWII found a
shortage in housing, which created a demand for quick, easy-to-build
single-family dwellings. According to the United States Census
Bureau’s website, the post-WWII surge in homeownership was
remarkable. Specifically, “a booming economy, favorable tax laws, a
2
Michael D. Haydock. “The G.I. Bill,” American History (March 1996): 52.
127
rejuvenated home building industry and easier financing saw
homeownership explode nationally.”3
This demand for housing created a market for an innovative
group of young, well-educated architects who were ready to provide an
entirely new living experience at this time. The concept was based on a
new way of thinking about how people live, about how people built their
homes, and about our interaction with nature. There was experimentation
with prefabricated modular housing units that included sections of walls
and windows that could easily assemble on a flat concrete pad with a
steel frame in a matter of days, as well as large, mass-produced housing
developments.
Americans had been widely introduced to new industry during
the war, and in the post-war environment the prevailing attitude was that
anything was possible. It was the beginning of what is commonly known
as the “Atomic Age.” This environment created a market in which,
according to Dietsch, “buoyed by the victory of war and a booming
economy, many consumers were attracted to the idea of starting afresh in
spaces as sleek as a fighter plane.”4 The combination of all these factors
created what is today called the midcentury modern architectural
movement, which will be referred to as midcentury moving forward.
Modern architecture flourished in California, as millions flocked
to its beaches, mountains, and deserts to enjoy the sun, economic
opportunity, and spectacular natural beauty for which it is renowned. The
following is an eloquent passage that summarizes the aesthetics of the
midcentury architectural movement: “American modernism was based
on the international style, but rejected its austere rationalism in response
to the fanciful and optimistic postwar art of living in the United States.
Landscapes intermingle with inner spaces through the use of materials
and techniques such as native rock, immense walls of glass, refined
aluminum lines [and] ethereal butterfly-winged roofs.”5 These elements
complemented the dramatic and rugged natural environment of
California, and the preface of Beautiful Homes and Gardens in
California captures this spirit as well: “California architecture
[expresses] forms of a new environment out of a freer way of life, out of
a new totality of garden and house.”6
3
U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Historical Census of Housing Tables 1900-2000,”
prepared by the U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census,
Washington, DC, 2011.
4
Deitsch, 12.
5
Alaine Coquelle, Palm Springs Style, trans. Sharon Grevet (New York:
Assouline Publishing, 2005), 16.
6
Herbert Weiskamp, Beautiful Homes and Gardens in America, trans. Herbert
Weiskamp. (New York: Harry N. Abrams, 1964), 3.
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Joshua Edmundson
Figure 2. Steel House, Donald Wexler, Early 1960’s, Photo by the author, 2014
The Case Study House Program and Julius Schulman
In the January 1945 issue of Arts & Architecture Magazine, owner and
editor John Entenza wrote about proposing to begin the study, planning,
design, and construction of eight houses, each to fulfill the specifications
of a special living problem in the Southern California area. Nationally
known architects, chosen not only for their obvious talents, but also for
their ability to realistically evaluate housing in terms of need, were
commissioned to create “good” living conditions for eight American
families. Due to the popularity of the project, 36 homes were ultimately
designed. In all, 24 houses were built in the Los Angeles area between
1948 and 1962.
When the first six Case Study houses were completed, they were
furnished with modern furniture and opened to the public for display.
This ingenuity in building design included entirely new concepts in
furniture as well. Designers like Charles and Ray Eames, Eero Saarinen,
and Harry Bertoia used new materials like molded fiberglass, plywood,
plastic, and woven chrome to create designs that often looked like they
might have come from a sculpture garden rather than a furniture
showroom or catalogue. All this, along with new clothing, automobiles,
and gadgets designed for every task helped to create the entirely new
midcentury experience.
129
Firgure 3. Kaufmann residence in Palm Springs, Richard Neutra, 1946,
photograph by Julius Shulman, 1947
According to Esther McCoy, who was an editor at Arts &
Architecture Magazine, the buildings were modular, rectilinear, and built
on a flat slab; they were distinct from their sites, and they used
standardized elements to reduce the costs, but that turned out to be
unsuccessful. During the time the houses were open, a staggering
368,544 persons visited them, and the critical success of the houses
removed more than one obstacle in the way of public acceptance for
experimental design. McCoy declared in the magazine that the Case
Study Houses influenced building practices across America during the
1950s and 1960s. Open floor plans, incorporation of materials such as
plywood and plastic, built-in storage facilities, flat roofs, skylights, and
steel framing were all legacies of the program.
Entenza used his magazine to promote modernism as a forum for
designers and architects and challenged architects to design and build
new homes that were revolutionary in their materials, design, and
construction. “In 1945, the Case Study House Program…commanded the
attention of the national and international community with its
unprecedented visions of domestic space in Southern California.”7
7
Pierluigi Serriano, Julius Schulman Modernism Rediscovered (Cologne:
Taschen, 2009), 6.
130
Joshua Edmundson
Figure 4. Case Study House #22, Pierre Koenig, 1960, Photo by the author, 2012
Architectural expert Elizabeth Smith states that the Case Study
House program remains one of America’s most significant contributions
to architecture at mid-century. Conceived as low-cost experimental
modern prototypes, the thirty-si designs of the program epitomized the
aspirations of a generation of modern architects. It was very much a
lifestyle, marked b a focus on “the essentials, perhaps in recognition of
the preceding years of recession and war…modernism is perhaps the best
expression of the golden rules of Mies van der Rohe – ‘Less is more’ –
and Charles and Ray Eames – ‘Doing the most with the least.’”8 The
Case Study House program, Arts & Architecture Magazine, and the
iconic photography of Julius Shulman were major vehicles driving
midcentury architecture. Through his brilliant photography, Julius
Shulman exposed the world to this chic new way of life.
Shulman’s legendary photography captured the spirit of the era;
his two most famous photos are of Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House
(1947 in Palm Springs, and Pierre Koenig’s Case Study House #22
(1960 in Los Angeles. These images are icons of post-WWII life in
California and have been circulated extensively in print and film media
worldwide. They were more than just photographs of houses – they
included sleek modern furniture, the glamorous homeowners, and even
their modern cars, which brought life to the vignettes Shulman was
creating. The stylishly dressed models testified to the luxurious, elegant,
and sun-filled lives of this new modern generation. Shulman’s career far
8
Coquelle, 20.
131
exceeded those two residences: between 1936 and 1986, he “completed
some 6,000 photographic assignments in North America.”9
Shulman was so well known, and so respected for his talents,
that for decades he was the primary photographer to document
significant new modern architectural projects. Shulman’s brilliant
juxtaposition of architecture, furniture, and art intrigued and fascinated
millions of people worldwide and made them want to emulate the
subjects of his photos. Many of his photographs were shot in black and
white and feature dramatic plays of light and shadow. Without
Shulman’s photography, the midcentury modern movement, including
not only architecture but also art and fashion, might not have grown into
the international phenomenon for which it is famous.
The Roots of Midcentury Architecture
Figure 5. Villa Savoye, Le Corbusier, 1931
The American midcentury architectural movement traces its roots to
early twentieth-century Europe where artists and architects were reacting
to the modernization of the industrial age. In 1919, Walter Gropius
founded the Bauhaus, an art school in Germany which was famous for
the way it combined crafts and the fine arts. The Bauhaus became one of
the most influential precursors to modern architecture and design.
According to midc ntury architecture expert Janice Lyle, everything had
to be “white, everything had to be smooth, the rooms had to be square.
From his studio in Paris, architect Le Corbusier re-purposed utilitarian
9
Serriano, 6.
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Joshua Edmundson
items like factory window frames and railings for use in homes and
office buildings.”10 A generation of intellectuals, including architects like
Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, Walter Gropius, and Marcel Breuer fled the
Nazi regime in the 1930s, where the Bauhaus was “shut down under
pressure from the ‘National Socialists.’”11 These architects came to
America and developed their craft into the midcentury architectural
movement, taking cues from a prolific American architect, Frank Lloyd
Wright, who turned away from conventional architecture and created a
style of his own that is marked by craftsmanship, linear structures, and
the use of native stone and wood.
Figure 6. Frank Lloyd Wright home, Oak Park, Illinois
The community of Oak Park in Illinois contains the largest
collection of Frank Lloyd Wright structures in the world, including his
home and studio. The author visited Oak Park and was struck by the
simplicity and elegance of Wright’s designs. The spacious structures
with their decorative carved wood and stained glass elements convey a
sense of harmony. Fallingwater, the famous home Wright designed in
1935 for Edgar Kauffman Sr. in rural Pennsylvania is cantilevered over a
waterfall. Falling Water is a remarkable precursor to the new midcentury
architectural style that was on the horizon, with its flat roofs, and
horizontal quality with wide overhanging eaves and ledges.
10
Janice Lyle, Roots of Modernism (California: Hillman & Carr Incorporated,
2012).
11
Siftung Bauhaus Dessau, “The Bauhaus Building by Walter Gropius,”
accessed November 24, 2013, http://www.bauhaus-dessau.de/bauhausbuilding.html.
133
Figure 7. Falling Water, Frank Lloyd Wright, 1935
Wright heavily influenced the new generation of designers like
Richard Neutra, who worked for Wright for a few months before
becoming disillusioned by his heavy style. Neutra moved to Los Angeles
in 1925 to pursue his own interests. There he joined his old school friend
R.M. Schindler. The two had attended the Vienna Technical University
and together they founded the new school of Los Angeles modernism,
until “professional and personal incompatibilities drove them apart.”12
Architectural historian Sidney Williams wrote about how “their
respective offices functioned as studios for young designers – both local
and recent arrivals to Los Angeles. Neutra’s fame began with his widely
published Lovell Health House (1927-1929) in the Hollywood Hills,
considered to be the first steel-frame residence in America.”13 Neutra and
Schindler were the first of this group of young architects from around the
globe, who would come to define what we today call the midcentury
modern architectural movement. They were of varying degrees of
education, and came from diverse backgrounds and ideologies. Many of
them were outrageous in their ambitions and several were known for
their tempers or uncompromising natures. They all believed in one thing,
however, modern design using odern materials and American
ingenuity.
12
Barbara Lamprecht, Neutra, (Cologne: Taschen, 2006), 9.
Lauren Weiss Bricker and Sidney Williams, Steel and Shade: The
Architecture of Donald Wexler, (Berlin: Kehrer Heidelberg Berlin, 2011), 11.
13
134
Joshua Edmundson
Figure 8. Lovell Heath House, Richard Neutra, 1929
In the end, these brilliant, futuristic homes turned out to be too
iconoclastic for the average Californian. Most ordinary citizens, when
given the choice between a sleek modernist home and a more familiar,
traditionally designed home, chose the traditional. Thousands of Spanish
bungalows and sprawling suburbs filled with ranch-style houses spread
out across the urban landscape. Also, as inflation rates rose and prices
soared, individually designed small homes became too expensive for
most people, and so, the movement aimed at giving people a new living
experience became more rarified; a luxury more in the reach of wealthier
individuals. According to Esther McCoy, “by 1962 it became clear that
the battle for housing had been won by the developers…only one Case
Study House architect designed prototypes for a developer – A. Quincy
Jones planned tracts for Eichler Homes which were models of good land
planning and design.”14 Even today, “the majority of houses…are still
mostly wood stud, sheetrock, and stucco, appearing in a sprawl of
unending suburbs.”15 The urban sprawl continues to stretch further across
the state, growing larger year by year, so much so, that the tiny resort
town of Palm Springs may indeed become a suburb of Los Angeles in
the near future.
14
Esther McCoy, Case Study Houses: 1945-1962 (Los Angeles: Hennessey &
Ingalls, 1977), 3.
15
Cathy Lang Ho and Raul A. Barreneche, House American Houses for the New
Century (New York: Universe Publishing, 2001).
135
Palm Springs and the “Golden Age of Architecture”
Many of these modern architects who gained fame for their midcentury
architectural innovation around the world had gravitated to California
and later produced buildings in the tiny California desert community of
Palm Springs. There they created what today is the greatest concentration
of midcentury architecture in the world. This seasonal resort town had
been filled with millionaires and movie stars for years. The earlier
Spanish Colonial style, with its elaborate plasterwork, thick adobe walls,
arched windows and doorways had fallen out of fashion. The leisure
class who frequented Palm Springs wanted to build their homes and
estates in the newest style, which produced a lively market for
midcentury architecture. Alaine Coquelle wrote that it was not until
“John Porter Clark and Albert Frey, as well as Richard Neutra, John
Lautner, William F. Cody, Stewart Williams, Donald Wexler, A. Quincy
Jones, and William Krisel [arrived] that modern architecture truly arrived
in Palm Springs.”16 This group of architects began to design not only
private homes in Palm Springs, but also the commercial and civic
infrastructure of the city. One of the most prolific, Donald Wexler, was
the designer of numerous public buildings including the tent-like Palm
Springs airport. Coquelle writes that to Wexler, modernism is an
“interplay of multiple experiments with emphasis on new technologies:
metal framing, steel joinery, sliding glass walls extending to infinity,
prefabricated modules, concrete slabs, etc. Wexler called the era ‘the
golden years of architecture.’”17
16
17
Coquelle, 16.
Ibid., 18.
136
Joshua Edmundson
Figure 9. Palm Springs City Hall, Albert Frey, 1952, Photo by the author, 2014
To paraphrase from the book Palm Springs Modern, by Adele
Cygelman, in the 1950s, golf was gaining popularity, and along with it,
the idea of the golf course lifestyle. Homes would actually be constructed
right on the fairway, with a whole culture built around this novel concept
of living on the golf course, being part of a country club community, and
being able to golf every day with ease. Developers planned seasonal golf
resort country club communities and put the lots around the fairways up
for sale with great success. Celebrities like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra,
Bing Crosby, Desi Arnez, and Lucille Ball, along with powerful
politicians like Dwight Eisenhower and Gerald Ford all purchased homes
in Palm Springs. Billionaire philanthropists Walter and Leonore
Annenberg built a 200-acre walled estate with their own private golf
course and invited their close friends, like Presidents Richard Nixon and
Ronald Reagan, to take working vacations from the White House to relax
and golf in luxury and privacy. Even the Queen of England visited them
at their iconic A. Quincy Jones-designed home in Rancho Mirage.
137
Figure 10. Sunnylands, A. Quincy Jones, 1963, Photo by the author, 2014
Through all these developments, the fame and luster of the
enclave of Palm Springs became cemented in the American psyche
forever. The creation of this entirely new community and luxurious way
of life was brought about by a group of wealthy individuals who were
accustomed to having their homes custom-built and decorated. They
were a leisure class who could afford to invest in spectacular, innovative
resort experiences, private walled estates, or austere glass pavilions filled
with exquisite modern furniture. They golfed, swam, and played tennis
daily, before balmy evenings spent dining poolside in the latest fashions
purchased in the glamorous Wurdeman and Becket-designed Bullocks
Wilshire on Highway 111 in downtown Palm Springs.
Palm Springs for the Average American
According to the Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism’s website, “with the
advent of the air conditioner, the desert as a year-round destination and
residential community became possible for the first time.” 18 People who
were not necessarily wealthy enough to own a home in the desert to
occupy for a few months each year could now live in the desert full time,
and the dynamics of the tiny community began to change to include a
18
Palm Springs Bureau of Tourism, “Visit Palm Springs,” accessed Novermber
24, 2013, http://www.visitpalmsprings.com/page/palm-springshistory/8180.html.
138
Joshua Edmundson
broader spectrum of residents beyond the wealthy and those in the
service industry, who catered to the seasonal influx. Albert Frey was one
of the midcentury architects who made his home permanently in Palm
Springs, and for the rest of his life he lived in his own minimalist glass
box perched on a cliff overlooking downtown Palm Springs.
Figure 11. Frey House II, Albert Frey, 1964
As Donald Wexler had discovered, the desert was a perfect
vehicle for new building methods like prefabricated panels and units, and
modern materials, such as steel, glass, and concrete. In an article
published in the Toronto Star on Palm Springs modernism, Christopher
Hume states that many of the new structures, from private homes to
public and commercial spaces, were held up by steel beams; these
structures contained large open spaces and had windows for walls. The
casualness of American life was reflected in the architecture; the rigid
hierarchy of traditional housing gave way to a human-scaled flow of
rooms and a sense of connection, interior and exterior. E. Stewart
Williams, one of the most prolific architects of Palm Springs’ iconic
public landmarks, had the philosophy that “the character of the site
should be the generator of the form of the architect’s solution. The
architecture should be an expression of the form that surrounds it.”19 This
is an excellent example of the sentiment of modernist architects, as
opposed to traditional architecture. Williams is also quoted in the
pamphlet from the Palm Springs Modern Committee on the Iconic Home
Tour, February 2013, stating that he thought that a house ought to look
like it grew from the ground, rather than falling from the sky.
19
Mic ael Stern, E. Stewart Williams A Tribute to His Work and Life (Palm
Springs: Palm Springs Preservation Foundation, 2005), 2.
139
Figure 12. Private Home, E. Stewart Williams, 1959, Photo by the Author, 2014
The scene unfolded over years, as the population of seasonal wealthy
elite converged on Palm Springs every winter, the year-round population
slowly grew. Middle-class retirees moved into the valley to enjoy the hot
climate, quiet life, and ample golf. The architectural experience
continued to awe any who encountered it. Architects learned how to
build in the heat and sun of the desert environment. “Don’t use wood on
exteriors since it expands, contracts, and disintegrates rapidly. Avoid
stucco and plaster – they crack easily. Use only steel, concrete, stone,
[and] glass. Build the house low on the ground and let it conform to the
landscape. Make the outdoors as much a part of the indoors as
possible.”20 This was the mantra of the time, but part of the human
experience is that every generation wants to make its own mark, and so,
by the 1970s, the midcentury style became dated.
20
Alaine Cygleman, Palm Springs Modern (New York: Rizzoli International
Publications, Inc., 2009), 23.
140
Joshua Edmundson
Figure 13. Coachella Valley Savings and Loan, E. Stewart Williams, 1961
Palm Springs fell off the international radar. Many of the oncefamous desert midcentury structures and dwellings fell into disrepair
while some were destroyed to make way for newer developments and the
city turned into a virtual ghost town, with empty shops filling the onceglamorous streets of downtown. The economic decline, however,
actually saved an exceptional number of the historic structures from
alteration. Many were abandoned, sat empty, or lived in as they were for
decades, preserved in the desert heat.
In the past ten years, Palm Springs has become a popular
destination for midcentury enthusiasts from around the world, as the
design-minded community at large once again relishes the sleek, clean
lines and minimalist design ethos of the midcentury era. A new
generation is striving to recapture some of that bright optimism of
America in the 1950s and 1960s, and they have been coming to Palm
Springs to do it.
Conclusion: Restoration, Preservation, and Rebirth
The midcentury era was a product of the post-World War II boom that
swept across America and Europe. It was a time of optimism and change
that manifested itself in architecture and design. This dramatically
changed many aspects of people’s lives, from their clothing, hairstyles,
and furniture to their houses, cars, and more. This boom took ideas born
in the Bauhaus and the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright and developed
them into an architectural concept that was based on clean lines,
simplicity, and industrially manufactured materials that were
standardized for efficiency in a rapidly expanding society. Southern
141
California became home to millions of veterans, who built communities
across the landscape, and brilliant architects were drawn to its sunny
coasts and dramatic deserts. They designed a plethora of homes,
libraries, airports, gas stations, and more before the fickle public eye
turned to the next fad, the shag carpets and avocado appliances of the
1970s.
The desert oasis of Palm Springs had long been a haven for the
wealthy who had flocked there to enjoy the warm winters for decades.
They largely abandoned the town when the boom ended, however, and
the sleek homes and chic designs of the era fell out of fashion. These
homes sit largely unappreciated, but there is a vibrant community hard at
work, concerned with preserving and restoring these relics of an
optimistic and experimental time in Southern California history. Once
more those interested in good design gravitate to Palm Springs, and a
multitude of the surviving structures are being restored to their original
state. We can be sure they will be appreciated for generations to come,
and the ingenuity and optimism of the post-WWII boom in Southern
California will not be forgotten. This is important because it reminds us
that the modern built environment can be simple and effective as well as
aesthetically pleasing. In our modern age of featureless strip malls and
endless swathes of tract housing, this legacy may prove to be an enduring
beacon of inspiration for the future.
142
Joshua Edmundson
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Architecture of Donald Wexler. Berlin: Kehrer Heidelberg
Berlin, 2011.
Coquelle, Alaine. Palm Springs Style. Translated by Sharon
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for the New Century. New York: Universe Publishing, 2001.
Lyle, Janice. "Roots of Modernism." Sunnylands. Rancho Mirage,
California: Hillman & Carr Incorporated, January 3, 2012.
McCoy, Esther. Case Study House. Boston, Ma: The Christian Science
Publishing Company, Dec 9, 1987.
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Bureau of Tourism. Palm Springs, California, 2013.
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Serraino, Pierluigi. Julius Shulman Modernism Rediscovered.
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Life. Palm Springs, California: Palm Springs Preservation
Foundation, 2005.
The Guardian Newspaper. 2004. Cash: Property: How it started. Los
Angeles, Ca: Guardian Newspapers Limited, February 29, 2004.
The Radio Diaries. 2011. The Bonus Army: How a Protest Led to
The GI Bill. Edited by Deborah George, Joe Richman, and
Samara Freemark. Accessed November 11, 2011.
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144
Author Bio
Southern California native Joshua Robb Edmundson is a senior at
California State University San Bernardino and will graduate in June
2014 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in history with a concentration
United States history. He plans to pursue a Ph.D. in museum studies
with a concentration in curating and historic preservation. He is
currently working on an honors thesis on Ming and Qing dynasty
Chinese art history. Josh lives in Palm Springs with his partner Kenneth
and dog Asta, where he serves his community as a commissioner on the
Public Arts Commission. He also works as a guide at Sunnylands, the
historic estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, a job that helped fuel
his lifelong passion for the arts, history and architecture. Beyond his
studies, Josh enjoys hiking, swimming, cooking, travel and improving
his midcentury home in the desert. He would like to thank everyone at
The Annenberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands as well as the history
department at CSUSB, particularly Dr. Cherstin Lyon and Dr. Jeremy
Murray for their boundless inspiration, outstanding example,
encouragement and support.
145
African History, Western Perceptions, Development, and
Travel in Kenya
By Moriah Schnose
In the summer of 2012, I traveled to Kenya, where I spent time in the
capital city Nairobi, the village of Kakuyuni, and a few days on a safari
in the Masai region. During my visit, I observed the work of the
organization, Heavenly Treasures, and witnessed the impact of the myths
associated with the West's relationship with Africa. As far back as the
17th century, the Western world has referred to Africa as the “Dark
Continent.” For centuries, this term evoked a sense of mystery about
Africa and its peoples. Currently, the West continues to perceive and
perpetuate a false image of Africa. Contrary to popular belief, countries
which comprise the continent of Africa are some of the most culturally,
economically, politically and historically diverse in the world.
Unfortunately, the West continues to portray Africa as both a single
country with a primitive, unstructured, and uniform culture.
Before visiting Kenya, I wondered why Africa seemed so
vulnerable to war, corruption, poverty, and disease. My own worldview
was greatly shaped by the media coverage surrounding Africa, which
tends to be very unbalanced. Typically, it covers only the extreme and
tragic cases, and fails to represent positive events in Africa. In turn, this
view has been used to justify oppressive foreign policy. Moreover, I have
come to the conclusion that the majority of the tragedies in Africa are a
direct result of foreign influence, particularly by the United States and
Europe. How the West views Africa has been socially constructed over
centuries of controversial history. Perceptions of Africa from European
and American governments have been used to justify exploitive political
and economic agendas. Throughout Africa’s existence, the West has
ignored Africa's political, technological, and economic advances in order
to perpetuate the image of Africa being inferior to the West.
Understanding Africa’s complex history is therefore essential in order to
avoid further misunderstanding.
147
Depictions of East African History
For thousands of years, societies in Africa possessed highly structured
political systems, advanced commerce, and integral social systems.
Before Europeans ever rounded the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa,
contact had long been established between Africans living along the
Swahili coast (and as far inland as what is now Uganda) and people
living along the perimeter of the Indian Ocean (but particularly those in
India). What started as merely an economic relationship based on mutual
interest in trade, evolved into an intricate cultural exchange.Traders
would move with the seasons, spending part of the year in their
homelands and part of the year living near the Horn of Africa, including
what is now Kenya and Tanzania. They would marry and start families
along coasts throughout the Indian Ocean, trading not only monetary
products, but also ideas, and religions, among others.1
The earliest interactions between Europeans and the Swahili
Coast were drastically different from the way in which the West has
framed Africa over the past few hundred years. The constructs of race
upheld today did not exist when the Portuguese first arrived on the shores
of what is now Kenya in the mid-seventeenth century. The Portuguese
had a very inaccurate understanding about the size of the African
continent, and because the people of the Swahili coast had complex
trading systems with coastal people throughout the Indian Ocean that
date back to around the year 1,000 C.E., the Portuguese did not view
them as African. Instead, the Portugese thought of the African populace
as Arabs. The Portuguese relied heavily on Africans along the Swahili
coast as translators with Indians, and they highly respected the ability to
speak multiple languages. Thus, they did not approach relations with the
people of the Swahili coast with a mindset of superiority. Instead, they
saw great potential in maintaining strong economic ties with them.2 This
history is often overlooked.
Western radicalized discourse on Africa as we know it today,
emerged during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade. Ideologies that have
deemed black skin as inferior have helped justify chattel slavery in the
Americas, can also be found in Jewish, Christian and Islamic texts.3 The
1
Jeremy Prestholdt, "Portuguese Conceptual Categories and the ‘Other’
Encounter on the Swahili Coast," Journal of Asian & African Studies (Brill) 36,
no. 4 (2001): 383-406.
2
Ibid.
3
David Goldberg, "The Curse of Ham," The Curse of Ham: Race and Slavery in
Early Judaism, Christianity and Islam, 1 (2003): 168-177. Monotheistic
religions have justified slavery by arguing that blackness and slavery are both
curses from God. Ham was the son of the Biblical figure Noah who found Noah
148
negative views of Africa were solidified during the period of
colonization during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As chattel
slavery was abolished towards the end of the eighteenth century,
Westernized countries (particularly Protestant Christians influenced by
the Great Awakening), began to advocate for the exploration of Africa's
interior. Unfortunately, due to misunderstandings of African culture,
along with European’s own superiority complexes, led to the partitioning
of Africa.4
Western scientists, explorers, and missionaries were among the
earliest Westerners to explore Africa's interior. The expansion within the
field of biology during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries further
promoted the ideology of African being inferior to European. Westerners
justified their invasion with claims that Africans were biologically
“uncivilized” and “primitive.” Motivated by the view that Africans were
inferior to them, Western scientists speculated that Africans were the
“missing link.” Historians John and Jean Comaroff pointed out that “the
vocabulary of natural science was to strengthen and legitimize the
association of the Dark Continent with black bodies and dim minds.
Comparative anatomical schemes typically presented Africans as the
most extreme contrast with Europeans...the 'link' between man and
beast.”5
The work of explorers in Africa was largely funded by Western
governments.6 Despite the fact that empires were seen as outdated and
intoxicated and informed his brothers. Noah viewed this as a mockery and
cursed Ham, along with his decedents, to servitude.
4
Anthony Dachs, "Missionary Imperialism-The Case of Bechuanaland,"
Journal of African History, 4 (1973): 647-658.
5
John and Jean Comaroff, “Africa Observed: Discourses of the Imperial
Imagination,” Of Revelation and Revolution: Christianity, Colonialism and
Consciousness in South Africa, 1 (1991): 86-125. Although their goal was to
convert Africans to Christianity, missionaries often maintained close ties to
colonial forces. Missionaries portrayed themselves as heroes from the “evil
witch-doctor.” Due to missionaries demanding that Africans convert to
Christianity and denounce all tradition which were deemed unholy by their
standards, Christian missionaries in Africa have been accused of cultural
genocide. As missionaries moved further into the interior of Africa, they set up
missionary posts and would receive military protection from their homelands.
This helped justify early Western military involvement in Africa.
6
Jan Pieterse, "In the Dark Continent," White on Black: Images of Africa and
Blacks in Western Popular Culture (1992): 64-75. We can particularly see this
in the case of Henry Morton Stanley. Stanley was born in Wales to a young, unwed mother. At age eighteen, he moved to the United States and served on both
sides of the American Civil War. Commissioned by James Gordon Bennett Jr.,
son of founder of the New York Herald, Stanley set out to find Dr. David
Livingstone. Livingstone, who was a famous missionary in Africa during the
1800's, traveled into the interior of Africa and re-named major geographical
149
costly to maintain, Europeans sat down specifically to lay claim to land
in Africa at the Berlin Conference, in 1884. Otto Von Bismarck, first
Chancellor of unified Germany, and host of the Berlin Conference,
invited representatives from fourteen European nations including the
United States, as in the words of King Leopold, to: “carve up … that
magnificent African cake.” Not a single African was invited, and yet
these European powers drew new borders for African countries. They are
recorded to have literally taken a ruler to a map of Africa and penciled in
many of the countries we know today. In some cases, they attempted to
follow geographical borders such as rivers and yet not a single cultural
border was taken into consideration.7 By 1900, the only non-colonized
countries in Africa were Ethiopia and Liberia, with Liberia remaining
under control of the United States.
In the Scramble for Africa, Kenya was claimed by the British
Empire. Great Britain governed Kenya, like most English colonies, with
indirect rule. Kenyans were allowed to maintain much of their own
systems but were responsible for reporting back to the British. Kenya has
been politically independent from Great Britain since 1963.8 Following
decolonization, several African countries, including Kenya, turned to the
World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Trade
Organization to help rebuild their nations. In order for African nations to
borrow money from these groups, they often had to agree to Structural
Adjustment Programs. These programs made it nearly impossible for
African countries to pay back the money they borrowed, and insisted that
borrowers cut social spending, cut income taxes, expand privatization,
liberalize trade, and restrict subsidization. Several organizations have
responded to this by promoting debt relief. This form of aid has been
proven to help temporarily, but does nothing to prevent the borrowing
governments from having to borrow again.
locations in the name of Great Britain. When Livingstone and Stanley met,
Africans became the backdrop in their own land. This story has been propagated
for centuries. In 1876, Stanley was commissioned by King Leopold of Belgium
to establish an undercover organization that laid claim to the Congo, titled the
International African Association. It was disguised as a scientific organization
with the intent to “civilize” and “Christianize” Africans. Instead, Leopold turned
the Congo into a work camp, which led to the estimated death of ten million
Africans.
7
Norman Etherington, "A False Emptiness: How Historians May Have Been
Misled by Early Nineteenth Century Maps of South-eastern Africa," Imago
Mundi, 1 (2004): 67-87.
8
It is too simple to say European nations “pulled out” of Africa. Some did, but
in many cases black Africans fought long and hard to gain political and
economic control. The greatest example of this is the Apartheid system in South
Africa, a system that was not overthrown until 1995. Kenya has been politically
independent of Great Britain since 1963.
150
Throughout Europe and North America, there is widespread
perception that Africa needs to be saved or rescued, and that salvation
cannot come from within Africa. The image of Africans on their knees
begging for freedom and support is one that first appeared during the rise
of missionaries in Africa. This image still remains prevalent today and
has huge implications on how Africa is viewed. 9 “Kony 2012,” the U2
Live Aid Concerts, “Save Darfur,” and numerous other campaigns that
appear to promote the betterment of Africa constantly bombard the
Western media. Although some of these organization and individuals do
genuinely make a positive difference in Africa, most only perpetuate the
stereotype that the continent of Africa is helpless, pitiful, and hopeless
without outside aid. Indeed, in Western media, it is difficult to escape the
latest updates of famous celebrities holding concerts, adopting children,
and developing entire clothing lines aimed at “saving” Africa to the point
where “helping” Africa has become trendy. Infomercials interrupt airtime to tell the tragic story of orphan children dying of disease and
malnourishment. The problem with these campaigns, organizations, and
movements, is that they do little to empower Africans to change what
they want within their communities, much less to create a positive and
lasting impact. Instead, they often do more damage than good, and create
a paternalistic relationship between the West and Africa.
Assessing a Modern Development Project
In recent years, a new participatory approach for development has
emerged: micro-enterprise, also known as micro-credit or micro-finance.
Micro-enterprise consists of giving a micro-loan or micro-credit to a
business of typically no more than ten people. As the business earns their
money back, it is agreed upon that they also pay back their debtors. This
is meant to help grow self-sufficient business. These “debtors” then are
meant to go on to grow more micro-finance businesses. While in Kenya,
I got to partner with and observe the work of a micro-enterprise
organization based out of Glendora, California called Heavenly Treasure,
founded in 1998. They are connected to thirteen countries worldwide,
and three countries in Africa including; Ethiopia, Uganda, and Kenya.
Currently, Heavenly Treasure is working with thirteen different microcredit companies within Kenya.
Unlike traditional forms of Western aid in Africa that veer on the
side of paternalism, the goal of the micro-finance is to provide “access to
flexible, convenient, and affordable financial
9
This view of Africa directly correlates with the ethnocentric and racial
ideology of Protestant missionaries over a century ago. Europeans knew so little
about Africa, and yet they saw themselves fit to train them how to live.
151
services. This empowers and equips the poor to make their own choices
and build their way out of poverty in a sustained and self-determined
way.”10 Criticism for micro-credit claim that it is on too small of a scale
to make a significant difference, and that is does not give the poor the
power to break the cycle of poverty in their own lives. In many cases,
however, these same people often times invest their earning into their
community despite such claims.
Although my experience in Africa took place solely in Kenya, I
interacted with a diverse culture that carefully preserved its rich history,
while maintaining a hopeful pride in the future of their nation and their
continent. The capital city of Nairobi is reflective of the influence of
globalization in Kenya, and the African continent in general. There is a
huge divide between the wealthy and the poor, and similar to American
city planning and development, the wealthiest neighborhoods are situated
at the top of hills, complete with first class shopping destinations.
Juxtaposed to this lifestyle of luxury is a mix low income and
impoverished communities in pockets throughout Nairobi. The Kiberia
slums in Kenya are one of the world's largest slum neighborhoods. In the
few weeks prior to our visit, there had been a series of robberies in
Kiberia so we were cautious, and hired two armed mercenaries to walk
us through the neighborhoods. After forty-five minutes, we arrived at a
primary school that benefitted from the work of micro-enterprise. The
headmaster welcomed us with fresh fruit, roasted nuts, and chai tea.
Before we ate, his wife went around the table carrying a pitcher of water
and a basin to clean our hands. The headmaster explained that the school
recently suffered severe budget cuts that affected the school, teachers,
and students. The budget cuts affected the amount of food given to the
students, which created a lack of focus during school from hunger. The
headmaster, his wife, and the teachers are the real heroes of Africa.
These heroes have committed themselves to educating young Kenyans in
the hope that they will make a better life in the future. The West
glamorizes aid to Africa, which often overlooks all the unsung men and
women that are making a positive difference on their own.
10
Elizabeth Littlefield, Jonathan Murdurch, and Syed Hashemi, Is Microfinance
an Effective Strategy to Reach the Millennium Development Goals? (manuscript,
2003),
http://www.mikrofinanzwiki.de/file/570/is_mf_an_effective_strategy_to_reach_
the_mdg_2003.pdf.
152
Figure 1: Students looking outside the window, local primary school in
Kukuyuni, Kenya. Photo by Danielle Jones.
While walking through Kiberia, many Kenyans were amazed to
see us. The adults acted as if they had encountered a ghost. Children
from other schools would rush to the windows yelling with excitement
and disbelief that Westerns were walking through Kiberia. I distinctly
remember one boy shouting out “Its like a movie!” We asked one of the
mercenaries why their reaction was so strong. He explained that Kenyans
rarely see mzungu's or Westerners, in Kiberia traveling on foot.
Westerners that travel through Kiberia typically use tourist companies
that travel by bus. Tourists take pictures of the extreme poverty but never
step out of their buses to speak with Kenyans. The process is called
“slumming.” Tour companies promote what they call “the other side
touring Kenya.” The act of slumming is offensive to the people living in
Kiberia. Tourist “observing” life in a Kenyan slum promotes a mentality
of “us versus them” towards Africans. Slumming as a tourist attraction
was one of the most heart-breaking things I witnessed in Kenya.
Although development projects have not been successful in
improving lives, my experience with participatory development is that it
can make a long-lasting positive difference in a community. While in
Nairobi, I had the honor of meeting several people that were benefitting
from micro-enterprise, but one story in particular speaks to the power
these companies have to transform entire communities. As we drove
through the unpaved red dirt road slums of Nairobi, Kenyans would walk
along the side of the van tapping the window yelling “Mzungu!
Mzungu!” When we finally reached Gonga Waya Designs workshop
153
there was nothing about the building that would denote anything
extraordinary.
Abel, the founder or Gonga Waya, started his business in the
living room of the house he shared with his wife and daughter. Barely
able to gain enough profit to feed his family once a day, he was surviving
but not to his business' full potential. After joining forces with Heavenly
Treasures, Abel was able to move his business out of the family living
room and into a permanent workshop. He currently employs eight year
round employees and over the holiday season he hires over five times
that amount. The result is over 500 people benefit directly from
employment opportunities through his company. He went from an annual
income of US$500 to making over US$40,000 a year. Within the first
few minutes spent talking with Abel, he conveyed a profound sense of
gratitude to God. After meeting Abel, I could not help, but feel humbled
by his work.
The next part of my visit to Kenya was spent in the village of
Kakuyuni, in the Kumba part of the country. International micro-credit
organizations tend to target women, because globally, women typically
have less economic opportunities and greater difficulty acquiring loans.
Women also tend to be more likely than their male-counter parts to
invest their earnings back into the community.11 Although Heavenly
Treasures does not exclusively assist women, in Kakuyuni, a rural town
in Kenya, the group has partnered with the Sisal Sisters. Sisal is an agave
botanical species where sisal weaving is a traditional craft in Kenya. The
Sisal sisters weave beautiful bags and baskets with a variety of patterns
and colors. It began with one woman, in Kakuyuni, and in less than ten
years, they have grown to a group of almost 40 grandmothers. These
women are on their second round of parenting, raising their
grandchildren, on account that their own children have died of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic. These women typically care for anywhere from six
to ten children each, and collectively care for over two hundred children.
The Sisal Sister's work is hard (they have calloused hands), and support
the future of Kenya. Each of the women possesses a hopefulness that
transcends their external circumstances. They have become completely
self-sustaining with a stable source of income.
11
Littlefield, et. al.
154
Figure 2: Sisal Sister Ester, at her home in Kukuyni, Kenya. Photo by Danielle
Jones.
Along with spending time with the Sisal Sisters, I had the honor
of meeting several of the children and adolescents that they care for in
Kakuyuni. Along the walls of the school were various charts, one was
titled “Academic Board of Honour,” that celebrated the top students in
English, Swahili, Chemistry, Biology, and Physics. Another sign had the
schools motto that simply stated “Education Enlightens.” All of the
students had plans to attend universities, and the majority of them
dreamed of being chemist or do tors.
The last part of my trip was spent on the safari through the resort
called Kichwa Tembo. Kichwa Tembo is a five-star oasis in the middle
of a beautiful nature reservation in Kenya. A tour guide picked my team
up in Nairobi and drove us across six grueling hours of rocky terrain into
a region of Kenya that is occupied by the Masai. The Masai are famous
for their draped red clothing and complex bead work. They have become
one the most recognizable ancient cultures in the world. Our travel guide
warned us not to take any pictures as we traveled through the Masai land
on account that the Masai would write down the license plate of the car;
leaving the guide responsible for the picture taken. He explained that the
Masai would pose for a picture, but monetary compensation would be
demanded.
155
Figures 3 and 4: View from the windshield on our way to Safari, and Giraffes
during the evening Safari, Masai Mara National Reserve, Kenya. Photos by
Danielle Jones.
The safari was broken into two parts. We went out with our
guide at sunset, and again, at dawn the next day. After the evening safari
and dinner, we were all gathered around a campfire for the evening’s
entertainment. There were people all over Europe and a few fellow
156
Americans. No one was sure what to expect, but out from the bushes, we
heard the sounds of animal calls. Then young men wearing traditional
Masai dress came out from the dark and began preforming a traditional
dance. They slowly came to a pause in which one of them stepped
forward and introduced the group. He said that the dance they would be
preforming was the traditional coming of age dance for a young Masai
warrior. They proceeded to dance and took turns jumping. Although their
performance was absolutely incredible, it also left me with a heavy sense
of irony. The Masai are so famous for its rich history, and yet they
willing to sell performances of sacred dances to foreigners like myself.
The Masai are aware of Westerners fascination with traditional African
culture that they capitalized on it to fit the role assigned to them by the
West.
Figure 5: Masai Warrior Performance, Kichwa Tembo, Masai Mara National
Reserve, Kenya. Photo by Danielle Jones.
The way in which Africa is portrayed in the West as exotic and
in turmoil is a perception that has lingered for generations. Unlike the
early colonists who were unaware of African culture, we must take the
time to understand and respect Africa. We have to stop demanding that
Africa Westernize in order to meet the modern demands of world
powers. Kenya, like so much of Africa’s inhabits, have a diverse past and
a very bright future.
Despite the centuries of Western influence in Kenya, the
influence of Arab culture is still prevalent in Kenya. This influence
becomes clear when examining language. As previously mentioned, the
ability to communicate cross-culturally became essential to trade
between the two groups. To this day, Kenya maintains two official
languages, English and Swahili. Swahili is a mix between various
African languages and Arabic. Beyond language, evidence of Arab
157
influence in Kenya can be found in the cuisine and style of dress. While
in Kenya, almost every meal I ate included chapati and chai tea. Both
trace their roots to India, both are staples in the Kenyan diet, and both
were introduced to Kenya centuries ago. Even the style of clothing worn
in Kenya shares indisputable similarities to clothing styles often worn
throughout parts of India and the Middle East.
As state earlier, the deepest flaw with aid programs is that they
continue to create African reliance on Western nations, both politically
and economically. Although the term “colonization” is not applied to the
outside involvement in Africa today, the continuous exploitation of
Africa's resources and people remains the leading cause crippling the
continent. If Africa is ever to be given a fair chance at competing on the
global political and economic stage, Africans must govern the African
way, rather than the ways outside forces (Whether that be corporations or
foreign governments). In the past twenty years or so, the use of microenterprise has emerged as a way to empower individuals that otherwise
would not have access to business and possess limited employment
opportunities. Heavenly Treasures expands on the talent and work ethic
of the people they partner with. These partnerships put the power to
transform communities into the hands of the people that live within those
communities.
158
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160
Standing Where They Stood
By Richard A. Butler
This past summer, I traveled to Germany and took part in a youth work
camp that focused on researching topics associated with the Holocaust,
and more specifically, the concentration camp Mittlebau-Dora in
Nordhausen, Germany. The main focus of the organization, Youth for
Dora is to make sure that young people are still engaging, discovering,
and communicating the history of the concentration camp. Every year,
the organization puts together a two week international work camp, of
which I was lucky enough to be chosen to attend in August. As an
undergraduate in history, focusing on Nazi Germany and the Holocaust, I
have long awaited the chance to be in the places that I have become so
invested in. Once the reality of the situation set in, I started to wonder
what the experience was going to be like, a sense of trepidation became
more prevalent as the departure date approached.
The Project
The focus of these work camps is to undertake a project that spreads
awareness about what happened in this city during the Nazi era, a history
that the city does not like to confront or accept as I have come to learn.
This year’s project was meant as a protest and challenge to the common
narrative, that the people of Nordhausen were victims rather than
perpetrators. There is a monument which depicts the city of Nordhausen
as victims of the allied bombing of the city. As the organization intended
to shift the focus of this narrative onto the forced labor victims of the
camp, this monument that stands at the city center represented the focus
of our protest. Initially, the project consisted of a temporary monument
made of Plexiglas encircling the existing monument memorializing the
forced laborers who forcefully inhabited the city during the Nazi era.
What motivated the organization to do this project was that one-third of
the people living in the Nordhausen area were forced laborers, but the
majority of the city’s residents choose to not acknowledge it. Many
Nordhausen businesses profited from the labor extorted from prisoners of
Dora, and though some of these companies have owned up to their
history, others continue to deny or ignore it. Similarly, many people in
Nordhausen who have ties to this era also choose to not acknowledge the
past. So, with that in mind, our group was to construct a temporary
monument in an effort to memorialize those victims of forced labor. The
161
construction of this memorial would be an adventure in itself, because
there were twelve minds, with twelve opinions on what the project
should end up being.
Figure 1: Nordhausen, Germany. Photo by author.
After two days of discussion and deliberation on what the
monument should say and look like, the group decided on a hexagonal
structure that would have the Nordhausen skyline drawn, on the lower
portion of the Plexiglas panels, but instead of a traditional drawing of
buildings, we decided to use various sizes of human figures to make up
an abstract but recognizable skyline. The other element to using these
figures to form the skyline was that one-third of them would be drawn in
a different color to represent the forced laborers among the population, as
they walked the streets just as a normal citizen would (albeit with strict
laws limiting personal freedoms), but this piece of the city’s history has
largely been ignored. The plan was to place text and information
regarding forced laborers on the top half of these panels in order to bring
awareness to what had happened, and also to provoke thoughts on why
this is largely ignored by the citizens of the city. Projects of any sort
rarely go exactly to plan, however, and this was no exception. The group
ran into a myriad of problems in every phase of the project, whether it be
materials, creativity, equipment, etc., but perhaps most importantly,
where we would be able to place it once completed. The organization
found out a few days later that the city revoked privileges to place our
project around the existing monument. After becoming aware of this fact,
the course of the project changed. The group decided to make a six
paneled Plexiglas wall that would be placed inside the town hall next to
the existing monument, and this proved to be an easier construction.
Monday started a hectic week of finishing up the project that we
were to present on Friday. The people in the work camp split up into
162
different groups based on their interests and abilities. There was
construction, research, design, and artists; being that I am not artistically
inclined and cannot read German, I chose the construction crew.
Although it came with a level of frustration, our group pretty much had
free reign after we designed and planned the construction aspect of the
project, to do what ver we wanted. Johannes (a member of the
organization and my roommate throughout the trip) and another were
also in the construction crew; our designing and planning stage took
about two hours on the first day. The project went smoothly and the
presentation to the town went a lot better than expected. There was a
larger turnout than anticipated with positive feedback from the locals. As
a group, we were wondering how it would be received as it was a direct
challenge to popular belief, but it was received well, nonetheless. After
the presentation, the project remained for two weeks in the town hall so
that local passers-by would have the opportunity to view it and hopefully
learn something about the towns’ history. After the two weeks in the
town hall, the display moved to the visitor center at the Mittlebau-Dora
concentration camp where it will remain indefinitely.
Figure 2: The Finished Project. Photos by author.
163
Figure 3: The Finished Project. Photos by author.
Travel Experience
I had traveled to Germany once before as a high school student, and even
visited the Dachau concentration camp, so the trepidation alluded to
earlier was not necessarily that I was nervous to travel somewhere
important in a place where I do not speak the language, but it was in the
sense of doing so with a feeling of isolation from familiar peers. Not
knowing anyone else in the work camp, and discovering that I would be
the only American participant, let alone one of only two non-German
participants in the camp (as the other international participants canceled
at the last minute) was a bit intimidating. I decided to make the trip
anyway, however; it was also my first time traveling on my own, which
made mad me rely on my own devices, and the aid of infinitely generous
locals to get where I needed to be.
The sense of relief was a welcomed feeling after the stresses of
traveling were mounting; the person to come to my rescue was named
Johannes, someone who I became very close to over the course of the
work camp. Johannes is a native of Nordhausen, who spoke fluent
English, so being able to communicate in full sentences was very
comforting because I was discovering how isolating the language barrier
was (it would be a feeling throughout the trip). His calming and easy
going demeanor m de the stress of the day subside.
The first night was a blur, as it usually is after such a long day
accompanied with countless introductions and trying to keep my
bearings while conversations around me were all going on in German;
needless to say it was a very restful night when my head hit the pillow
for good. The participants of the work camps stayed at a local youth
hostel for the duration of the work camp, and roomed with people we did
not know. The morning set off what would be a very interesting day,
164
because we were to tour the Mittlebau-Dora concentration camp, the
camp that the organization Youth for Dora was based.
Going into the work camp, I purposely did not research this
concentration camp prior to arriving, because I wanted to be a blank
canvas and learn from being there on such hallowed ground. The camp
itself was mostly ruins, as allied attacks destroyed the majority of the city
and the camp. Dora was not the most prolific or oldest of the camps, it
was actually quite oung compared to the others as it opened in 1944.
Before that, it was a sub-camp to Buchenwald. What was so defining to
this camp, aside from the horrors associated with concentration camps in
general, was the intricate tunnel system. The tunnels, which extend miles
into the hill that the camp rests into, were impressive both for their feat
of engineering, and the unbeknownst brutality that these tunnels brought.
These tunnels, which were massive, were built on the backs of slave
labor (per the Nazi motus operandi), and were consistently eight degrees
centigrade year round and moist. This deadly combination: cold, moist,
inhalation of debris, and Nazi brutality was in essence a death sentence
in itself. The water in the air, combined with the particles inhaled
converged in the prisoners lungs, effectively creating cement in the
lungs, gradually halting the ability to breathe. Construction of these
tunnels cost many lives. All the while, the prisoners worked, slept, and
lived in these tunnels day in and day out during construction of both the
tunnels and the camp on the surface.
Figure 4: Mittlebau-Dora Tunnels. Photo by author.
To go to such lengths to construct such an intricate system was
meant to keep hidden what the Nazi scientists were getting ready to
construct, the V-1 and V-2 rockets. These rockets were at the forefront of
weapons technology during this era, and were constructed in these
tunnels; also notable about these tunnels/weapon factories was that the
famous Dr. Werner Von Braun was the lead scientist at the site. The
165
tunnels and rocket, nevertheless, remained a stark reminder of what
happened here, and what was always lurking as we toured the camp site.
Compared to Dachau, Dora was more run down and rural, which was to
be expected as Dachau is largely reconstructed, and Dora is mostly
original construction. The most harrowing sections of Dora is the intact
role call square, firing squad wall with the adjoining camp prison, and of
course the hallmark of all concentration camps, the crematorium/burning
facility. The newness of this camp to me, in that I had no prior
knowledge of it, somewhat dampened the emotional impact that such a
site would normally have, as I was so caught up in learning about
everything and soaking up as much information as I could.
After spending the first part of the work day in the camp, we
went into the city and toured areas which had significance during the
Nazi time period. Walking the streets where Adolf Hitler had step foot
was unsettling, because there was a sense that such a monster walked the
same street that I did, and saw the same buildings; the distance from
which we study him now seemed to dissipate and the reality that he was
also human was all too real. As I was wrestling with that feeling, we
continued the tour until we ended up at the city square, where the
monument stood in stark contrast to these feelings.
After the work week was concluded on Friday (the next
morning), we went on a day excursion to the Buchenwald concentration
camp, the vastly larger sister camp to Dora and better known.
Buchenwald is an imposing complex simply in terms of its size, as it is
the largest in the area. Being that I already knew some of the history of
the camp, the impact this day had on me personally was vastly different
from when I toured the Dora camp. Buchenwald consists of largely
original construction with minimal restoration, which adds an eerie
authenticity that I think Dachau lacks. The harrowing nature of
Buchenwald hits you full force as you walk through the watch tower
gates and into the massive roll call square where prisoners stood every
day during their internment. Standing where they stood, seeing the watch
tower that is so synonymous with Nazi concentration camps, with the
iron gates that say in German “you get what you deserve,” and imagining
what would be going through a prisoners mind, one realizes that there is
no way to even scratch the surface of the harsh realities of the camp.
Studying from afar, reading a book, and writing papers allows the
student a shield from the reality to some extent, but standing there
removes all mysticism and it becomes resoundingly real!
166
Figure 5: Buchenwald Main Watch Tower and Gate. Photo by author.
Figure 6: Camp gate with the inscription “Jedem Das Seine.” Translation: “you
get what you deserve.” Photo by author.
As the tour progressed, this sense of reality, and the resounding
brutality that occurred on the ground I walked on, brought forth profound
emotions that I had not been accustomed to feeling. Walking through the
site of the roll call quare and the main barracks where mostly non-Jews
were held, was like a calm before the storm in comparisons to what took
place in the outskirts of this section of the camp. In the more forested
area of this section is where they held the Jewish population and the
167
infirmed, which by all accounts can only be described as hell on earth.
The brutality was two-fold, the first being the obvious holocaust horrors,
and the second being the neglect they suffered (which brought it to a
whole new level). In the “infirmed/ill” section of the camp, was a camp
within the camp, where the sick were just left there to rot, suffer, and die
amongst each other in unimaginably putrid conditions.
The tour then culminated in the viewing of the crematorium,
which is where the experience truly became too heavy to handle.
Walking in the building felt like trespassing onto hallowed grounds,
because so much e il that had occurred at the hands of fellow humans
culminated in this building. It was the body cart immediately at the
entrance, it was the basement with the dead body chute, the hooks on the
walls where corpses hung until moved to the elevator, then finally the
ovens that are all too infamous and identifiable with the tragedy that
occurred in these camps. The tour itself was an all-out assault on
emotion, but it was in the crematorium where it finally became too much
and I had to find a wall outside to go behind, away from the group, as the
emotions I had been suppressing overcame my ability to contain and
wept. The experience was so powerful, so moving it is hard to describe
and give it justice in text; it truly is one that should be encountered first
hand, because I believe it is a unique experience for each individual.
After the main tour of the camp, groups broke off and had the choice to
go directly to Weimar or go view the memorial at Buchenwald
celebrating the liberation of the camp on the site where the mass graves
were. I chose to delay going to Weimar and visit the memorial which
was draped in Soviet propaganda, but still very impressive and powerful.
Figure 7: Buchenwald Crematorium. Photo by author.
168
Reflecting on this experience, the one thing that stands out to me
personally is that I gained a new, and different perspective on a multitude
of things, whether it be academic, personal, or connections formed with
strangers. As far as academically, it is definitely one thing to sit at home
or a library reading about something that you are passionate about, but
that kind of education can only take you so far. This experience of being
on the ground, “Standing Where They Stood” adds an invaluable
dimension to my education that I hold very dear, because there is a
certain legitimacy an experience such as this adds to the time spent
studying the events that took place. Furthermore, being in a camp I had
no prior knowledge of, and working on a project that brought to light an
issue that I was not well versed in, was a great learning experience.
Finally, the friendships I made over the duration of the camp is a
testament to that the fact that as indifferent as humans may act towards
each other, humanity is not lost, and there is still hope.
169
In Memoriam
In Memoriam
Obituaries, Subjectivities, and Perceptions of Ariel
Sharon
By Sean Switzer
Introduction
The day after his brother’s death in April, 1888, Alfred Nobel opened a
Parisian newspaper only to discover his own obituary. The erroneous
obituary, which confused Alfred for his late brother, Ludvig,
disheartened him as he realized the gloomy state of his legacy. The
article’s headline read, “Le Marchand de la Mort est Mort!” (“The
Merchant of Death is Dead!”). Nobel was dumbfounded. His invention
of dynamite had backfired on him. He had never intended for dynamite
to kill human beings; yet, brutal assertions such as, “Dr. Alfred Nobel,
who became rich by finding ways to kill more people, faster than ever
before, died yesterday,” highlighted this obituary. Those words
condemned Nobel by proclaiming him to be the liaison between
dynamite and its victims. The blood spilled by the victims of dynamite
was on his hands.1
Nobel was grateful for this mix-up because he was then inspired
to create a new, positive legacy for himself. Though the world currently
deemed him as an avaricious scientist, Nobel yearned to give the world a
chance to look back at his life with positive memories. Thus in, 1895,
Nobel uniquely and unconventionally drafted his own obituary through
his Last Will and Testament. He left a majority of his wealth to create a
prize bearing his name. The Nobel Prize reshaped Nobel’s fame. No
longer named “the Merchant of Death,” Nobel is now considered to be
the father of a prize that commemorates outstanding contributions to
science and peace. 2
The above narrative illustrates the power of an obituary. Unlike a
biography or memoir, it packs an immediate punch aimed at direct
accessibility to a broader audience. It can shatter or celebrate the memory
of an individual’s life. Its force lies in the fact that it is an epilogue, a last
1
Ken Makovsky, “Nobel: How He Built His Reputation,” Forbes, November 7,
2011, http://www.forbes.com/sites/kenmakovsky/2011/11/07/nobel-how-hebuilt-his-reputation. (Accessed April 10,2014).
2
Ibid.
171
In Memoriam
summary of a person’s life remembered. When the remembered person is
a historical figure, obituaries written from opposing viewpoints can serve
as valuable tools in uncovering greater historical insight and
understanding.
When presented with two conflicting obituaries, the reader views
historical events and people from different angles, which allows one to
see the validity of both perspectives. This exposure, therefore,
discourages the skewing of the reader’s perception of history and
encourages the development of a critical eye in analyzing historical
leaders and events. Different perspectives challenge readers to question
their own biases, and by doing so, gain a fuller grasp of various concepts
that are instrumental in solving on-going conflicts.
Though the above statement is true, it makes history too
simplistic. It trivializes the fact that humans are amazingly complex and
consequently, so is history. This is where the obituary holds its actual
power. The writer can reshape history because an obituary is physically
short, limiting the writer to choose what content to include in their
summation. Negation of negative complexities surrounding a person’s
life is an easy way for the writer to expound on a deceased person’s
positives throughout their life. This is commonly done by way of
omitting abysmal details from the narrative, or scapegoating the
negative, which in turn, sanctifies the person of topic. In quite the other
way, the writer can demonize their subject by emphasizing the negative,
or diving deep into the closet of a person’s past and pulling out every
bone from every skeleton in existence. In addition, using certain
terminology and phrases can also shape the reader’s perspective on the
topics presented in an obituary; the well rounded complexity of an
individual’s history is rarely, if ever, presented in obituaries. In either
case, both positive and negative narratives are ostensibly true and appear,
to the reader, to be objective in nature. Quite frankly, this is not reality,
and unfortunately, rarely would one read a multitude of obituaries in
order to see the hidden biases and subjectivity.
In the recent passing of Ariel Sharon, a slew of obituaries
flooded the newsstands as well as the internet. Each obituary was not all
that unique, as many covered the same events throughout his life. The
main difference that actually stood out was the writer’s subjectivity in
terminology and omission or insertion of a few carefully chosen key
events. Authors often portrayed Sharon’s life from a single side of the
conflict, negative or positive, without any gray zone. Some painted a
bleak picture of Sharon where he was a villain and war criminal. 3 Others
3
"The World Reacts to Ariel Sharon's Death," Aljazeera, January 12, 2014,
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/world-reacts-ariel-sharondeath-2014111133236765101.html. (Accessed April 10,2014).
172
In Memoriam
made him out to be a war hero and saint. 4 Few obituaries, however,
made some attempt on taking a purely neutral stance where Sharon was
both a war hero and a murderer, depending on the event discussed.5 In
writing on such a controversial figure, the authors of Sharon’s obituaries
look as though they are neutral, but in reality, either read up on Sharon
prior to writing the obituary and formulated their own opinion, or were
previously educated on the Arab-Israeli conflict and grasped the
opportunity to create a last standing memory of his life through their own
preconceived notions of Sharon. These obituaries were historically
correct and seemed to be neutral, but the subtle phrasing that creates a
positive or negative memory of Sharon is evident.
In the following two obituaries, the picture of Ariel Sharon’s life
is framed quite differently. Both obituaries are doggedly subjective and
use a certain language that is commonly used in examination of Sharon
among scholars of the Arab Israeli conflict. In one obituary, he is
perceived as a criminal and war-monger; in the other one, he is viewed as
a savior and war hero. After reading both obituaries, a cognitive
dissonance sets in and one is forced to answer the question: which one
holds the greater truth? At this point, the validity is seen in both
perceptions; an unbiased analysis can then take place with a clearer
understanding of history.
Israel Mourns the Passing of Beloved War Hero and Political
Leader: Ariel Sharon, 1928-2014
Ariel Sharon, the former Prime Minister of Israel, died Saturday, January
11, 2014, at the age of 85. Sharon was in a coma for eight years
following a severe stroke. Present-day Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin
Netanyahu, expressed his “deep sorrow” following Sharon’s death.6
United States President Barack Obama sent his “deepest condolences,”
while the United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron
commemorated Sharon for his stalwart leadership and dedicated pursuit
for peace. 7
Sharon fought for Israel’s right to exist as an independent Jewish
state from the front lines as a soldier in 1948, until his incapacitating
stroke while Prime Minister. Though met with criticism, Sharon always
4
Tovah Lazaroff, "Obituary: Ariel Sharon-A Bulldozer in War and Peace," The
Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2014, http://www.jpost.com/National-News/ArielSharon-A-Bulldozer-in-War-and-Peace-337663. (Accessed April 10, 2014).
5
Jonathan Lis, "Ariel Sharon, Former Israeli Prime Minister, dies at 85,"
Haaretz, January 11, 2014, http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.546747.
(Accessed April 10, 2014).
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid.
173
In Memoriam
had a complete intolerance for acts of terrorism. Sharon’s disgust for
terrorists often led to topics of controversy. He was a man of decisive
action, with an incredible stalwart passion for Israel’s security. Sharon’s
masculine charisma, matched with his assertive confidence, led many
Israelis to admiringly dub him the “bulldozer.”8 Additionally, he is
remembered for his quick judgment while in the midst of chaos during
battle. With a goal in mind, Sharon would occasionally refuse direct
orders, trivializing his disregard for authority with an astonishing success
in combat. It is indisputable that Ariel Sharon greatly influenced Israel,
molding the country into the political and geographic landscape that the
world observes today.
Ariel (Arik) Sheinerman, who later replaced his surname with
Sharon, was born March 1, 1928, to Jewish-Russian emigrants, Deborah
and Samuel, who were part of the Third Aliyah (wave of immigration to
Eretz Israel), in the town of Kfar Malal, Palestine. 9 As a young man,
Sharon joined a Jewish militia group known as the Haganah, sparking his
career in the military. Despite his brute physical appearance and warrior
like attitude, Sharon spent time educating himself in the arts of history
and Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University located in
Jerusalem. He soon returned from leave and continued to serve in the
Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
A plethora of raids plagued Israel during the 1950s. Attacks by
one group, either Israeli or Palestinian, were quickly answered by the
other. The young state of Israel yearned for retaliation in order to
maintain its legitimacy as a country in the region. The answer was the
creation of a retaliatory force. Ariel Sharon had a huge hand in
establishing this force; he gained command of the small Israeli Special
Forces group known as Unit 101. Their goal was to respond to acts of
terrorism through strategic and covert operations.
On the night of October 12-13, 1953, a terrorist group crossed
the Jordanian-Israeli border and infiltrated a small Jewish settlement in
the West Bank.10 There, the assailants lobbed grenades into a Jewish
home, murdering an innocent sleeping mother and two of her children,
while injuring a third.11
Sharon bolstered his men and orchestrated a retaliatory raid on
the Jordanian village of Qibya where the suspected terrorists harbored
8
Lazaroff.
"Ariel Sharon dies at 85, Eight Years after Stroke that Felled him," Ynet News,
January 11, 2014, http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4472203,00.html.
(Accessed April 10, 2014).
10
Benny Morris, "The Israeli Press and the Qibya Operation, 1953," Journal of
Palestine Studies 25, no. 4 (1996): 40.
11
Ibid.
9
174
In Memoriam
themselves.12 Though Unit 101 inflicted substantial collateral damage
and innocent lives were lost in the raid, they demonstrated that violent
acts of terror against Israeli civilians would not be tolerated, and that any
terrorist plot would be met with military intervention by the IDF.
Sharon was promoted to major-general in 1966, at the age of 38,
due to his strong leadership skills and relentless dedication to the state of
Israel; he served in many conflicts with the Palestinians and neighboring
Arab nations.13 Though Sharon frequently neglected direct orders from
his commanding officers, he only did so because he lacked faith in the
IDF leadership. He felt that many military promotions were conducted
on the basis of political motives rather than on empirical military merit.14
For this reason, Sharon took onus for the men he commanded. With
occasional negation of orders, he made firm decisions to ensure Israeli
victory.
When the Six Day War broke out in June, 1967, Sharon proved
his intuition and talents as a leader through brilliant combat strategies.
Forced to take a defensive stance on the Southern Front, Sharon seized
an opportunity to crush the opposing Egyptian enemy forces at Um-Katef
and Abu-Ageila.15 He rounded up his men and formulated a complex
maneuver that required the use of tanks, infantry, paratroopers,
helicopters, and planes.16 He crushed his foes with flawless precision in
the offensive attack, which greatly contributed to the swift success of the
war. The victory was not only big for Israel, but also for Sharon; as it
earned him popularity and spurred him on to gain political momentum.
Sharon’s success also allowed him to maintain a consistent level of
command in the IDF until well after the Yom Kippur War.
In the 1973 War, also known as the Yom Kippur War, Sharon
again proved his strength as a combat tactician. On October 17th,
Egyptians launched an attack on the Israeli Army near Alligator’s Lake
and Great Bitter Lake.17 The Israeli’s took surprisingly heavy losses in
the heat of combat. While other IDF generals pulled back from the
frontlines, Sharon stood firm, vehemently opposing the order to
12
Charles D. Smith, Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 8th ed. (Boston:
Bedford/St. Martins, 2013), 227.
13
"Prime Minister and Defense Minister, General Ariel (Arik) Sharon
(Scheinermann) (02.26.1928-01.12.2014) Commander, Statesman and Leader,"
IDF Archive, http://www.archives.mod.gov.il/pages/Exhibitions.asp. (Accessed
April 10, 2014).
14
Eric Rouleau, "The War of the Generals,” Journal of Palestine Studies 3, no. 3
(1974): 175.
15
Lis.
16
Ibid.
17
Riad Ashkar, "The Syrian and Egyptian Campaigns," Journal of Palestine
Studies 3, no. 2 (1974): 27.
175
In Memoriam
withdraw his troops from their positions. 18 His decision to hold onto the
position, despite what seemed like eminent defeat, enabled a successful
crossing of the Suez Canal. Sharon’s valor earned him a new nickname
given by his men, “‘Malech Israel’ (King of Israel).”19 Sharon
unquestionably emerged from the Yom Kippur War as a hero. He then
turned to politics, and eventually became Israeli Defense Minister in
1981.20
During the Lebanese Civil War, Sharon, as Israeli Defense
Minister, aided the Phalangists (a group that largely consisted of
Maronite Christians), in rooting out suspected terrorists in retaliation for
the assassination of their leader, Bashir Gemayel.21 The targets were the
Palestinian refugee camps, known as Sabra and Shatilla. Sharon did not
permit Israeli soldiers to enter Sabra and Shatila; instead, he required
them to support the Phalangists from outside the villages. On September
16, 1982, the IDF lit up the sky over West Beirut with flares while the
Phalangists spearheaded an assault into the Sabra and Shatila camps in
an attempt to cleanse the area of any suspected Palestinian terrorists.22
The Phalangists were unforeseeably ruthless in combat and killed many
innocent people.23 Sharon took the brunt of the blame for what happened
in Sabra and Shatila, and after taking responsibility, eventually resigned
from his position as Defense Minister following the massive
condemnation by domestically, as well as internationally; especially with
the Kahan Commission.24 This unfortunate event, however, did not
hinder Sharon from still involving himself in politics. He continued to
serve his country and climb the political ladder until he was elected
Israeli Prime Minister in 2001.
In September 2000, Sharon announced that he intended to
exercise his legal right as an Israeli citizen to visit the holiest site in
Judaism, The Temple Mount. The Palestinian’s used his visit as an
excuse for violence. Sharon's Jewish heritage was deeply rooted at the
site where the last Jewish temple once stood during the Herodian era.
With the progressive breakdown of the Oslo Accords (which were set up
to eliminate the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis), Palestinians
took umbrage in Sharon’s visit. They picked up rocks and began hurling
them at Sharon and his fellow spectators in defiance of his valid
visitation of the Temple Mount.25 On that day, 362 Israelis were injured
18
Ibid.
Rouleau, 176.
20
(Scheinermann) (02.26.1928-01.12.2014) Commander, Statesman and Leader.”
21
Lis.
22
Smith, 373.
23
Ibid.
24
Lis.
25
Smith, 469.
19
176
In Memoriam
along with many Palestinians.26 Sharon concluded his visit by stating that
he visited the Temple Mount “with a message of peace. I do believe we
can live together…I was more affected by the hatred than anything
else.”27 Foreign Minister at the time, Shlomo Ben-Ami, insisted that if
Sharon had known that there was going to be violence, he would have
refrained from going.28 The conflict subsequently escalated
exponentially, and the Palestinians’ hostile response threatened the
security of Israel. Consequently, the Israelis needed a leader with a
military background who would ensure the safety of the Israeli people
amidst the egregious fighting. Thus, Israel elected Ariel Sharon as Prime
Minister that following year.
As Prime Minister, Sharon took advantage of forming an
unlikely coalition to address the Second Intifada that afflicted Israel. He
joined forces with the Labor Party and appointed Shimon Peres as
Foreign Minister and Benjamin Ben-Eliezer as Defense Minister. One of
the first decisions he made was to target suspected terrorists who
orchestrated the intifada.29 Amongst those ousted by Sharon’s hard line
of defense was Hamas leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.30 As tensions
receded, Sharon’s militaristic side took a U-turn as his attitude towards
Palestinians softened. Sharon announced in 2003 that all settlements in
Gaza would be removed, and that four settlements in the West Bank
would also be removed.31 A total of nearly 7,000 settlements existed in
Gaza.32
In December, 2005, at the height of his career, Sharon suffered a
debilitative stroke. He received a treatment of blood thinners, but was
soon rendered comatose on January 4, 2006 when he suffered a
crippling brain hemorrhage.33 After spending time in the hospital, doctors
eventually allowed the enervated Sharon to return home. He received
treatment for a short time before having to be moved back to the hospital
where he spent the remainder of his life. 34 He is survived by his two
sons, Omri and Gilad.35
26
Ibid., 498.
Correspondent, Mathew McAllester, Middle East, 2000, Clash at Temple
Mount/Violent Reaction to Visit by Likud Leader Ariel Sharon, Newsday, 04.
28
Greer Fay Cahsman, “Sharon Says His Temple Mount Visit Was an Excuse
for Violence,” Jerusalem Post, 2000.
29
Lis.
30
Ibid.
31
Ibid.
32
Lazarof.
33
Ibid.
34
Ibid.
35
"Ariel Sharon dies at 85, Eight Years after Stroke that Felled him.”
27
177
In Memoriam
Figure 1: Separation Barrier, which protects Israeli citizens.
The World Observes the Passing of the “Butcher of Beirut”: Ariel
Sharon, 1928-2014
Ariel Sharon, the former Prime Minister of Israel, passed away Saturday,
January 11, 2014, at the age of 85. A severe stroke had placed Sharon in
a coma for over eight years. Present-day Israeli Prime Minister,
Benjamin Netanyahu, expressed his “deep sorrow” following Sharon’s
death.36 United States President Barack Obama sent his “deepest
condolences,” and the United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, David
Cameron, commemorated Sharon for his stalwart leadership and
dedicated pursuit for peace.37
Contrarily, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas abstained
from sharing his sentiments directly following Sharon’s death, but Jibril
Rajub a prominent Palestinian figure head, announced his
disappointment of Sharon’s death, claiming that he had hoped to one day
see Sharon tried in International Court for the war crimes that he had
committed.38 Gaza’s Hamas leader, Khalil al-Hayya, described Sharon as
having his hands covered in Palestinian blood, and stated that “we will
remember Ariel Sharon as the man who killed, destroyed and caused the
suffering for several Palestinian generations.”39 Both loathed and loved
by many, few would disagree that the history of Ariel Sharon’s life was
synonymous with controversy.
Ariel Sheinerman, who later changed his last name to Sharon,
was born March 1, 1928, to Jewish Russian emigrants, in the town of
36
"The World Reacts to Ariel Sharon's Death.”
Ibid.
38
Ibid.
39
Ibid.
37
178
In Memoriam
Kfar Malal, Palestine.40 Beginning as a young man, Ariel Sharon
gradually made his climb to power when he joined a Jewish militia group
known as the Haganah in the early 1940s.41 With a Zionist
weltanschauung, he helped lead Israel to an independent state in 1948.
He quickly proved to be a strong, yet reckless military leader, reveling in
contentious combat situations. As he gained popularity, Sharon
transitioned out of the military and into politics where he took a firm
stance against “terrorism” by way of ethnic cleansing.
On October 12-13, 1953, armed Palestinians from Jordan snuck
across the Israeli border and infiltrated an illegal settlement where they
killed an Israeli mother and her two children.42 Soon after the raid on the
settlement, Ariel Sharon received orders to retaliate. Thus, Sharon
orchestrated a “retaliatory raid” that took place on the night of October
14-15, 1953.43 Sharon’s Special Forces group, which he dubbed Unit
101, combined forces with the Paratroop Battalion 890 and launched a
surprise attack on a small Jordanian Village known as Qibya, along with
the surrounding villages.44 Unit 101 cleared the houses of its inhabitants,
either by using gunfire after kicking down doors, or by lobbing grenades
through windows.45 Those innocent people found fleeing their homes
were quickly shot on sight in the alleyways of Qibya.46 These houses
were then demolished with dynamite.
In the eyes of many Israelis, his valor in the raid was indubitable;
however, the success of the Qibya raid is debatable and was quickly
scrutinized. The news later announced that Sharon’s devastating raid on
Qibya led to the slaughter of sixty innocent Jordanian women and
children, in addition to the destruction of fifty houses at the hands of Unit
101.47 The raid meant better stability in the region for the Jewish state, as
Israel finally flexed its military muscle; Jordanians and Palestinians,
however, considered the raid unnecessary collective punishment and a
war crime due to the deaths of innocent civilians. Unit 101 eventually
merged with the 890 Airborne Battalion, and Sharon continued his
military career by serving in the 202 Paratroopers Brigade.48
In the 1960s Sharon served his country as a major-general in the
Israel Defense Forces. In both the 1967 Six-Day War and the 1973 Yom
40
"Ariel Sharon dies at 85, Eight Years after Stroke that Felled him.”
Ibid.
42
Morris, 40.
43
Smith, 227.
44
Morris, 41.
45
Ibid.
46
Ibid.
47
Ian J. Bickerton, and Carla L. Klausner, A History of the Arab Israeli Conflict,
5th ed. (Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall), 114.
48
(Scheinermann) (02.26.1928-01.12.2014) Commander, Statesman and Leader."
41
179
In Memoriam
Kippur War, Sharon proved his skill at command, as well as his reckless
insubordination. First, in the 1967 Six-Day War, he became annoyed by
his assignment to a defensive position on the Southern Front and
intervened, blatantly against direct orders. He quickly bolstered his
brigade with tanks, infantry and paratroopers carrying an all-out
offensive maneuver that was successful in trouncing Egyptian forces in
the region.49 Ariel Sharon contributed to the victory of the Six Day War,
yet his insubordination should not be swept under the rug, because of this
fact.
In 1973, the Yom Kippur War broke out, and Sharon
experienced a repeat of the Six Day War. Again his commanding officer
placed him on the Southern Front. As the Israelis were crossing the Suez,
they began to take heavy fire from Egyptian forces. Sharon was ordered
to abandon his position and fall back, but he declined; he held his
position and eventually broke through the canal.50 Many critics suggest
that Sharon disobeyed the command because General Gonen received his
promotion just a few months before the outbreak of the war. Sharon
showed umbrage in the fact that Gonen was promoted over him. Sharon
even went as far as to ignore his phone calls in the midst of the battle
which led, unfortunately, to the decimation of a score of tanks including
all their crew members.51 General Gonen described Sharon as boastful
about his successes in the war.52 Sharon arrogantly claimed that his
breakthrough across the Suez Canal “was the only brilliant operation in
the whole Yom Kippur war.”53
Regarding his political career, Sharon believed that his superiors
were trying to undermine his chance in the general election.54 Sharon did
win his fame, however, and eventually became Defense Minister in
1981, after serving as an adviser to a few prime ministers. He also filled
the position of Minister of Agriculture for a short time. 55
As Israeli Defense Minister, Sharon faced war and controversy
yet again. In September of 1982, Sharon took the initiative in forming a
joint operation against two Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. The
operation was called Operation Peace in the Galilee.56 Sharon intended to
remove 2,000 PLO “militants” from within the Sabra and Shatila refugee
camps following the assassination of Israel’s Maronite Christian ally in
Lebanon, Bashir Gemayel. The assassination was suspected to have been
49
Lis.
Ashkar, 27.
51
Rouleau, 177.
52
Ibid., 176.
53
Ibid.
54
Ibid., 177.
55
"(Prime Minister and Defense Minister, General Ariel (Arik) Sharon
(Scheinermann) (02.26.1928-01.12.2014) Commander, Statesman and Leader."
56
Lis.
50
180
In Memoriam
perpetrated by the Palestinians.57 Without consulting the Israeli cabinet,
Sharon severed a truce by ordering Israeli forces to invade Beirut.58 On
September 16, 1982, Israeli troops shot flares, illuminating the Lebanese
sky over Sabra and Shatila. Maronite Christian militants, also known as
Phalangists, safely marched into the camps and butchered its inhabitants,
earning Sharon the infamous title, “the Butcher of Beirut.” The death toll
was an estimated 800 non-PLO members; many of them were women
and children.59 Nearly 400,000 protesters subsequently flooded the
streets of Tel Aviv hurling insults and calling Sharon a “Murderer!”60
The Kahan Commission was sent in to investigate, finding that Sharon
should have tried to hinder the Phalangists from murdering innocent
people, and thus Ariel Sharon was indirectly held liable for the carnage. 61
Following the harsh scrutiny, Sharon resigned as Defense Minister, but
maintained an active hand in politics.
The early 1990s showed a glimmer of hope for a peace process
through the Oslo Accords of 1993. Both states finally recognized the
legitimacy for one another’s existence in what is known as the
Declaration of Principles (DOP). This glimmer was eventually snuffed
out nearly seven years later. The derailment of the peace process was
gradual and grim. Former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, who
signed the DOP in the Oslo Accords, was assassinated, and settlements,
internationally recognized as illegal, grew and prospered. As tensions
continued to rise, Sharon buried the nail into Oslo’s coffin by visiting
what Jews consider to be the “Temple Mount,” and what Muslims
consider to be the “Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary).
Nearly everyone viewed Sharon’s visit to the Haram al-Sharif or
Temple Mount on September 28, 2000, as a way of provoking violence.
Sharon denied these claims by vocalizing that “‘every Jew has the right
to ascend onto the temple Mount.’” 62 A majority of Muslims viewed
Sharon’s visit as a desecration of al-Haram al-Sharif, an Islamic holy
site, as well as a Jewish one. Many Israelis and Palestinians, including
then Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak, believed that Sharon’s presence
could spark quarreling and maybe even shed innocent blood.63
Controversies portrayed in headlines indicated that Sharon, without any
plausible deniability, knew prior to his visit that he would be provoking
57
Smith, 373.
Ibid.
59
Ibid.
60
Lis.
61
Ibid.
62
Ibid.
63
Norma Percy, Elusive Peace, directed by Dan Edge, (2005; Alexandria, VA:
PBS Home Video), DVD and Nightline: True Believers, directed by ABC News,
(1999), Film.
58
181
In Memoriam
violence.64 Jabril Rajoub, who is in charge of preventing terror within the
Palestinian Authority (PA), claimed in a 2000 article that Palestinians
saw Sharon’s planned visit as a “political provocation.”65 Marwan
Barghouti, a leader of Fatah, who is now a political prisoner in Israel for
his involvement in the first and second Intifadas, claimed that Sharon’s
visit was “at such a sensitive time in the peace process.”66 The visit “may
spoil everything” in terms of furthering the peace process.67 Sharon’s
visit was inevitably followed by an escalation in protests that quickly
evolved into a long period of violence known as the al-Aqsa, or Second
Intifada.
In February 2001, Sharon won the prime minister elections over
Ehud Barak with 62 percent of the votes.68 Instead of negotiating with
the Palestinians, Sharon took a firm militaristic approach to the
escalating violence, and formed an unlikely coalition with the Labor
Party to aid in defending Israel from Palestinian attacks.69 His method
inevitably led to the re-occupation of Palestinian cities within the West
Bank by the IDF, as well as the isolation of his arch nemesis, Yasser
Arafat, in his Muqata compound in Ramallah.70 In 2005, Sharon pulled
nearly 7,000 settlers out of Gaza.71 At first, this action seemed to be a Uturn in Sharon’s policies that were often backed by comments such as,
“Grab more hills, expand the territory. Everything that’s grabbed will be
in our hands, everything that we don’t grab will be in [Palestinian]
hands.” He then showed his true motives when he placed more
settlements, numbering in the thousands, in the Israeli occupied West
Bank.72 Furthermore, he began the implementation of walls throughout
the country. This essentially turned Gaza into an open air prison and
established a cathartic foothold in ethnically cleansing the West Bank;
widening the gap in the peace process between Israelis and Palestinians.
64
Etgar Leftkovits, Sharon's Planned Visit to Temple Mount, 2000.
“Moslem Demo Against Sharon's Planned Visit to Temple Mount,” 2000,
Mideast Mirror, 1.
66
Lamia Laoud and AP, Etgar Lefkovits and Nina Gilbert Contributed to this
report, 2000, Rajoub Warns.
67
Ibid.
68
Lis.
69
Ibid.
70
Ibid.
71
Lazarof.
72
Ibid.
65
182
In Memoriam
Figure 2: Checkpoint at Separation Wall. It encloses the Palestinians and
infringes on their land. It also makes life difficult for those on the West Bank.
Later that year, in December, Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke. He
was treated with blood thinners, but was rendered comatose on January
4, 2006, when he suffered a crippling brain hemorrhage. 73 He was
eventually allowed to return home where he received treatment for a
short time, but was eventually moved back to the hospital where he
eventually passed away. His two children survive him.
The Power of Perception
If Ariel Sharon were to read his own obituary, what would his reaction
be? What would he attempt to change, if anything? Will he be
remembered for the good he did, or for the bad he committed? An
obituary is the epil gue to a person’s life; it holds the remembrance of
who that person once was, what they valued most, and the legacy that
that individual will leave after their death. Alfred Nobel’s legacy
illustrates the power of perception. In quite the same way, digging into
Ariel Sharon’s life unleashes torrents of antipathy from one side, yet
simultaneously gives forth a surge of legitimacy for Jewish nationhood
and the struggle that enveloped Sharon to maintain Israel’s existence. For
Sharon, there is a dichotomy to his legacy, based upon one’s perception
of the events throughout his life. Indeed, many Israelis perceive Sharon
as a hero and warrior, who fought for Israel’s right to exist after nearly
two millenniums of persecution and Diaspora. On the other hand, most if
73
Ibid.
183
In Memoriam
not all, Palestinians view Sharon’s goal as a way to ultimately annex the
whole of Palestine, which they too believe is rightfully theirs. The
conflict cost both sides thousands of innocent lives without any
resolution being reached, a price that will never be forgotten. To favor
Sharon’s policies, or to demonize them, hampers historical insight on his
life and the events encompassing it. Skewed perceptions perpetuate
problems by limiting a reader’s understanding of history, but juxtaposing
both perspectives (as in the case of Sharon), is enlightening, because it
enables one to see all angles of his life, critically analyze his history, and
then fully grasp a wide variety of concepts that are instrumental to
solving this ongoing conflict.
Critically listening to voices coming from different perspectives
can potentially open-up the reader to greater truths and understanding
regarding historical events and leaders. Obituaries hold those opposing
voices that need to be heard. Alfred Nobel was able to add light to his
shadow; however, obituaries are more than negative or positive
remembrances. They are harbingers of historical insights.
184
In Memoriam
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Ashkar, Riad. "The Syrian and Egyptian Campaigns." Journal of
Palestine Studies 3, no. 2 (1974): 15-33.
Bickerton, Ian J. and Carla L. Klausner. A History of the Arab Israeli
Conflict. 5th ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.:Pearson Prentice
Hall, 2007.
Lahoud, Lamia and AP, Etgar Lefkovits, and Nina Gilbert,
contributed to this report. 2000.
Lazaroff, Tovah. "Obituary: Ariel Sharon-A Bulldozer in War and
Peace." The Jerusalem Post. Accessed April 10, 2014.
http://www.jpost.com/National-News/Ariel-Sharon-ABulldozer-in-War-and-Peace
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Lefkovits, Etgar. Sharon's Planned Visit to Temple Mount Angers
Palestinians. Jerusalem Post 03 (2000).
Lis, Jonathan. "Ariel Sharon, former Israeli prime minister, dies at
85." Haaretz. Accessed April 10, 2014.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/1.546747.
Makovsky, Ken. “Nobel: How He Built His Reputation.” Forbes.
November 7, 2011. Accessed April 10, 2014.
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Morris, Benny. "The Israeli Press and the Qibya Operation,
1953." Journal of Palestine Studies 25, no. 4 (1996): 40- 52.
Nightline: True Believers. Film. Directed by ABC News. NA:
ABC, 1999. Services, Combined News. 2000. Sharon: I
Would Visit Temple Mount Again. Newsday. 20.
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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/01/obituar yarielsharon-201412235836165483.html.
Percy, Norma. Elusive Peace. Directed by Dan Edge. Alexandria,
VA: PBS Home Video. 2005. DVD.
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“Rajoub Warns of Riots if Sharon Visits Temple Mount
Today.” Jerusalem Post. 01.
Rouleau, Eric. "The War of the Generals.” Journal of Palestine
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Smith, Charles D. Palestine and the Arab-Israeli Conflict. 8th ed.
Boston: Bedford/St. Martins,
2013.
"The world reacts to Ariel Sharon's death." Aljazeera.com. Accessed
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186
In Memoriam
Recalcitrance or Redemption? The Contested Legacy of
Britain’s Iron Lady
By Todd Broaddus
“Where there is discord, may we bring harmony,” uttered Margaret
Thatcher as she stood on the doorstep of 10 Downing Street in May,
1979.1 Despite the solemnity of her Franciscan supplication, rarely has a
prayer so manifestly gone unanswered in both life and death. As flags at
Parliament, Buckingham, and across the United Kingdom were lowered
to half-staff, Prime Minister David Cameron lauded Thatcher as having
“saved our country.”2 Salvation, however, is a relative term these days,
and for those who, upon hearing of the baroness’ death, celebrated in the
streets of Brixton or for the working-class coal mining families of
Yorkshire and the Humber in the North Country, Thatcher’s erstwhile
cauterization of Britain’s industrial sectors brought only condemnation.
“The Queen was sad to hear the news of the death of Baroness Thatcher.
Her Majesty will be sending a private message of sympathy to the
family,” Buckingham Palace dutifully reported.3 The Queen, along with
the National Health Service, shared the distinction as essentially the only
two bodies that Thatcher had failed to privatize during her stretch as
prime minister. The latter attempt, at least, was not from a lack of want.
She was “The Woman Who Divided a Nation,” wrote one Labourite
tabloid, the Daily Mirror. Millennials did what they do best and took to
Facebook, and blitzed YouTube with an anti-Thatcher campaign that
netted the seventy-four-year-old song, “Ding Dong! The Witch Is Dead;”
top spot on UK charts (not quite the reappearance Dorothy had
envisioned). Always one to keep the political rhetoric close to the privy,
Member of Parliament (MP) George Galloway irreverently added,
1
“1979: Election Victory for Margaret Thatcher,” BBC News, May 4, 1979,
accessed June 8, 2013.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4/newsid_2503000/250319
5.stm. Thatcher paraphrases a stanza from the Prayer of Saint Francis (English
version).
2
Erin McClam, “Margaret Thatcher, 'Iron Lady' Who Led Conservative
Resurgence in Britain, Dies at 87” NBC News, April 8, 2013, accessed June 8,
2013, http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/08/17653388-.html.
3
“Queen Saddened by Thatcher’s Death,” MSN News, April 8, 2013, accessed
June 8, 2013,
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/queen-saddened-by-thatchers-death.
187
In Memoriam
“Tramp the dirt down” on his Twitter feed.4 For many, the soul-snatching
economic bargain that the baroness had struck with the British people,
brought to mind the Devil’s visit to Faust.
Composing a Legacy: Historiography and Hagiography
In Europe’s post-war era, there were few individuals who were as
polarizing as Margaret Hilda Thatcher. Although entrepreneurs have
sung dirges for many of her contemporaries, her own legacy, in many
ways, remains a divided house. Without question, Thatcher has had a
seismic impact on the British scene. Not even Galloway would dispute
this. How has Thatcherism shaped our world, however? What, in fact, is
her legacy? Attempts to galvanize her story began early.5 In 1987,
Dennis Kavanagh, Professor of Politics at the University of Liverpool,
chided the so-called “Thatcher experiment” for having sounded the death
knell for the post-war Keynesian consensus.6 Apparently, one could do
worse, at least according to Martin Holmes, who hailed the prime
minister’s monetarist principles as an “impressive economic
achievement.”7 Despite an exhaustive reading of Thatcher’s initial
economic policies, Holmes’ first-term impressions nearly border on the
quixotic, as the mounting unemployment rate and onerous deregulatory
practices are noticeably omitted in favor of his own government
assessment, that is, predictably, one of “sustained success.”8 In his doorstopping biography, The Iron Lady, Hugo Young presents Thatcher as an
indomitable, yet flawed, political force.9 Perhaps an even greater
personalized depiction of Thatcher can be found in Peter Jenkins’ Mrs.
Thatcher’s Revolution. The author, by virtue of being a former lobby
4
“Anger at George Galloway's 'tramp the dirt down' Twitter Remark after
Thatcher's Death,” London Evening Standard, April 8, 2013, accessed June 8,
2013, http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/anger-at-george-gallowaystramp-the-dirt-down-twitter-remark-after-thatchers-death-8564876.html.
Galloway’s quip, “Tramp the dirt down,” was the title of a 1988 Elvis Costello
song berating the then-prime minister.
5
James Douglas, “The Changing Tide-Some Recent Studies of Thatcherism,”
British Journal of Political Science 19, no. 3 (1989): 399–403.
6
Dennis, Kavanagh, Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of Consensus?
(New York: Oxford University Press, 1987), 6–10.
7
Martin Holmes, The First Thatcher Government (Boulder, CO: Westview
Press, 1985), 68.
8
Ibid. For an overview of Holmes’ work, see Philippe Sands, review of “The
First Thatcher Government, by Martin Holmes and Thatcher: The First Term by
Patrick Cosgrave,” Boston College International & Comparative Law Review 9,
no. 2 (1986): 453.
9
Hugo Young, The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher (New York:
Macmillan London, 1989).
188
In Memoriam
correspondent, attributes the sui generis “Thatcher Factor” as the primary
catalyst for Britain’s economic and geopolitical policies.10 In contrast,
Joel Krieger, William Keegan, and to a lesser degree Kavanagh, argue
that the centralizing agents of Thatcherism had more to do with the
widespread breakdown of the post-war consensus, and less with a
“simple provincial [Thatcher] looking for an uncomplicated
philosophy.”11 In 2005’s widely read Postwar, Tony Judt masterfully
tailors Thatcher to fit within the milieu of the 1980s before settling on an
evenhanded legacy of economic efficiency offset by social
fragmentation.12
In an effort to develop a greater understanding of her legacy, two
determinative events during Thatcher’s tenure as UK prime minister are
revisited and examined. First, Thatcher’s prosecution of the war to
reclaim the Falklands in 1982 is explored. The result of the conflict led to
an ensuing groundswell of popularity for Thatcher, which propelled her
to success during the elections of 1983. Throughout the literature, there
is a parting of ways when it comes to the Argentinian affair and the socalled Falklands Factor, its redeeming role within the British psyche, and
its novel influence on England’s connection to Thatcher. In large part,
the tactical considerations of the engagement have become intertwined
within disparate political interests, further complicating the issue;
nevertheless, these are the strings that will be pulled. Secondly,
Thatcher’s engagement in the UK miners’ strike of 1984–85 is
considered. It is quite possible that without the victory in the Falklands,
Thatcher’s curbing of union power would not have transpired following
the year-long standoff with the coal industry in places like Yorkshire,
County Durham, and Nottinghamshire. It did, nonetheless, and became
for many— especially those on the far left—an unpardonable sin. In
examining these two determinative events, it is suggested that Thatcher
emerged as a polarizing, yet unique political phenomenon, whose legacy
of determination and intransigence was shaped by her self-identification
as a political outsider.
The Falklands Crisis
During the winter of 1981, General Leopoldo Galtieri’s military junta
seized control of Buenos Aires. Argentina’s aggression nearly eight
10
Peter Jenkins, Mrs. Thatcher’s Revolution: The Ending of the Socialist Era
(Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press, 1988).
11
William Keegan, Mrs. Thatcher’s Economic Experiment (London: Allen Lane,
1984), 82; and Joel Krieger, Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Decline
(Oxford: Polity Press, 1986).
12
Tony Judt, Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945 (New York: Penguin
Books, 2005), 543.
189
In Memoriam
thousand miles away, mobilized the languid British government and
provided Thatcher with a dress rehearsal for a decade of confrontation,
both at home and abroad. For Thatcher, who was already embroiled in
panoply of parliamentary issues in London, while simultaneously
monitoring the decolonization of Rhodesia in southern Africa, the
Argentinian crisis initially found her ill-prepared and reluctant to
prosecute a war on foreign soil. In large part, Buenos Aires’ saber
rattling and martial overtures to the Foreign Office had fallen on deaf
ears, and following the 1981 Defence Review’s budgetary
recommendation to withdraw the HMS Endurance from its maritime
coordinates near the Southern Cone, the Argentinians invaded.13 The
subsequent war to reclaim the Falkland Islands (April 2- June 14, 1982)
left an indelible impression upon the Iron Lady, as it claimed the lives of
255 British and over 650 Argentinians:
Nothing remains more vividly in my mind, looking back
on my years in No. 10, than the eleven weeks in the
spring of 1982 when Britain fought and won the
Falklands War. Much was at stake: what we were
fighting for eight thousand miles away in the South
Atlantic was not only the territory and the people of the
Falklands, important though they were. We were
defending our honour as a nation, and principles of
fundamental importance to the whole world—above all,
that aggressors should never succeed and that
international law should prevail over the use of force.
The war was very sudden. No one predicted the
Argentine invasion more than a few hours in advance,
though many predicted it in retrospect. When I became
Prime Minister I never thought that I would have to
order British troops into combat and I do not think I
have ever lived so tensely or intensely as during the
whole of that time. 14
Part revisionist, post-colonial romanticist, heroine, apologist, and
polemicist—even in perpetuity—Thatcher’s historical seating chart
makes for contentious dinnertime conversations. Within her private
recollections, compiled a decade after the conclusion of the war, it is as if
she is still on the floor of the House of Commons, staring down the
opposition party across the aisle, sparring with—and even attacking—her
13
Margaret Thatcher, The Downing Street Years (New York: Harper Collins,
1993), 174. Thatcher attributes the date of the Argentinian invasion to the 150th
anniversary of formal British rule on the archipelago.
14
Ibid., 173.
190
In Memoriam
Labourite interlocutors; and defending herself against the charge of
unpreparedness.15 The charge, however, was not completely unfounded.
Besides, the Falklands were not exactly the crown jewel of what was left
of the empire, and the size of the garrison at Port Stanley was far from
Napoleonic (the London Philharmonic Orchestra could field more men
than the Royal Marines garrison there).16
Following Argentina’s invasion on April 1, a BBC radio
producer, catching wind of the rumored offensive, made an inquiry at the
Foreign Office, in London, only to be told by the duty officer that Port
Stanley remained a haven of tranquility.17 Unalarmed, both men went
their separate ways as Argentine commandos stormed the Moody Brook
barracks eight thousand miles away. Appearing before the Commons two
days later, in what Thatcher described as “the most difficult [debate] I
ever had to face,” she reported that the Argentinian landing had not been
confirmed until 8:30 that morning (following a conversation with Sir Rex
Hunt, governor of the Falkland Islands).18 Needless to say, the chamber
erupted in a fit of “bulldog outrage.”19 Yet, the MPs knew what was at
stake, especially those who painfully recalled Prime Minister Anthony
Eden’s ill-fated adventurism in the Sinai Peninsula, which had fettered
the collective conscience of a generation of British to the broadcasted
humiliation of the Suez Crisis in 1956.20 To be sure, the weight of the
15
Ibid., 183.
Robin Harris, The Collected Speeches of Margaret Thatcher (New York:
Harper Collins, 1997), 154. Misplacing colonial territories in the South Seas had
not been without precedent. In late 1976, the Argentinian junta, apparently in
need of a military victory, invaded the barren British dependency in the farflung territory of Southern Thule, “boldly” capturing a number of its penguin
and petrel inhabitants. Despite the Argentinian Air Force setting up shop on
sovereign British territory, David Owen, the foreign secretary under Callaghan
at the time, decided to cover up the incident rather than complicate relations with
Buenos Aires. The House was not informed until a British Antarctic survey ship,
the ice-strengthened RRS Bransfield, finally cruised past Southern Thule two
years later and noticed the Argentinian regulars. Losing the territories that you
know about was quite disconcerting, but to be made aware of your downsizing
two Christmases later was particularly dreadful.
17
Young, The Iron Lady, 264.
18
Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, 180.
19
20
While the Union Jack emerged from World War II at half-staff, it took the illadvised Anglo-Franco clandestine incursion (1956) into the Suez to demonstrate
to Britain what the world already knew: despite retaining some vestige of
imperialism, Britain success ultimately depended on US consent; and, clearer
still, imperialists and their intrigues linger long after their seat of power has
gone. This appeared particularly obvious to everyone, but the British and their
tripartite conspirators. Perhaps, not since the Children’s Crusade to the Holy
Land, has an undertaking invited such calamity and embarrassment as Eden and
16
191
In Memoriam
moment was not lost on the prime minister, who was well aware that a
military defeat in the Falklands would be devastating to the United
Kingdom. Thatcher’s strategy during the debate on the House floor that
night was twofold: first, remind the Chamber that territory in the South
Sandwich Islands had also been lost under Callaghan’s watch; and
second, dispel any attempt to link her tardy response to the foreign policy
foibles of the previous administration. To ensure that the Iron Lady was
not about to dilute her ore, Enoch Powell stood in the Chamber and
reminded everyone of the prime minister being dubbed the “Iron Lady,”
and that now was the time to “learn what metal she is made of.”21
There is no doubt that for supporters of Thatcher, retaking the
Falklands by force would be a seminal moment of her legacy. With that
in mind, and amidst a crisis in domestic unpopularity, Thatcher leapt
onto the well-traveled path to Britain’s War Room, anxious to exorcise
the demons of the past. The former research-chemist from Lincolnshire,
however, appeared remarkably well equipped for repelling the Galtieri
junta and defending Britain’s honor on the high seas. After British forces
defeated the Argentinians in South Georgia on April 25, Thatcher
beseeched Londoners to praise the effort and sacrifice of the British Task
Force.22 Her celebratory proclamations soon proved prophetic as the
Falklands campaign, following the controversial sinking of the
Argentinian light cruiser, General Belgrano, by the British submarine,
HMS Conqueror, drew to a close in mid-June as white flags were hoisted
over Port Stanley. Soon after learning the news that weary Argentinian
troops had thrown down their arms and begun to retreat, Thatcher
addressed the nation:
Guy Mollet’s false-flag theatrics along the Sinai Peninsula. Moreover, not only
was President Eisenhower excluded from Britain’s Suez ambitions, but also
Eden’s face-off with Gamal Nasser over the “jugular vein of the empire”
coincided, almost to the hour, with the Soviet invasion of Hungary. Eden’s
chronological misstep—which doubled as his political gravedigger—infuriated
Eisenhower, and collectively saddled Britain with an identity crisis that, in some
cases, was not rehabilitated until Thatcher crossed swords with Argentina over
the Falklands in 1982. Besides, the cold warriors in Washington had little
patience for the parlor room colluding of Paris and London, especially when
Soviet tanks were simultaneously rolling over barricades in Budapest. For other
samples of Britain’s perspective of the Suez, in particular, those exhibited by the
Suez group, see Leon D. Epstein, British Politics in the Suez Crisis (Urban, IL:
University of Illinois Press, 1964), 51-60.
21
Thatcher, The Downing Street Years, 184. In a footnote, Thatcher explains
that Powell returned and made the subject a Parliamentary Question. Not
surprisingly, the report showed her substance to be of the highest quality. After
Powell’s findings were printed and framed, they were hung on Thatcher’s office
wall.
22
192
In Memoriam
And so today we can rejoice at our success in the
Falklands and take pride in the achievement of the men
and women of our task force. But we do so, not as at
some flickering of a flame which must soon be dead.
No—we rejoice that Britain has rekindled that spirit
which has fired her for generations past and which today
had begun to burn as brightly as before. Britain found
herself again in the South Atlantic and will not look back
from the victory she has won.23
The Spirit of the Falklands
Indeed, the shadow of the Falklands conflict would loom over Thatcher
more than any other event during her tenure as prime minister. In
retrospect, it is clear that the Falklands spirit was never meant to be
geographically confined to a rocky archipelago in the South Atlantic;
instead, it was to be a salve for the British psyche, which, if embraced,
would collectively lift the English from their post-colonial malaise.24
Britain had been suffering from a self-imposed imperial coma ever since
Winston Churchill had enjoyed his last habanos and now, following a
quarrel over an unwelcoming windswept rock in the southerly part of the
dependencies, the empire was ready to get back to what empires do:
rule.25 This pursuit was one that Margaret Thatcher was more than
23
Hulmut Norpoth, “The Falklands War and Government Popularity in Britain:
Rally without Consequence or Surge without Decline?” Electoral Studies 6, no.
1 (1987): 7-13.
25
Fueled by an awakened nationalistic fervor, the process of decolonization
became the post-war reality for the former great powers: England, France, and
the Netherlands. Indeed, by 1960, Conservative Prime Minister Harold
Macmillan’s concessionary “Wind of Change” speech in Cape Town stood in
stark contrast to the ostentations of Cecil Rhodes’ “Cape to Cairo” goal from a
generation before. The British Empire’s topographical fetishism, proudly
inculcated in the English youth upon entering grammar school, and infamously
portrayed in the sketch of Rhodes, seen straddling the African continent, had
unceremoniously collapsed into sheer bourgeois nostalgia in less than twenty
post-war-years. This was only one side of the coin, however, in respect to
Britain’s incapacity to maintain its territorial holdings. The other side was the
post-war ascendancy of the US, which despite sharing the ideological spoils of
war with its ally, fortuitously failed to share Britain’s dire need for fiscal
prophylactics and post-war damage control, especially following Japan’s
insertion into the “Impregnable Fortress” in the British stronghold of Singapore
in 1942 (Churchill christened the fall of Singapore as the “largest capitulation”
in British history). Winston Churchill, The Hinge of Fate, vol. 4 (New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1950), 81. Henceforth, Britain found itself
24
193
In Memoriam
obliged to accept. In the aftermath of the war, Thatcher’s approval
ratings sharply climbed to forty-four percent which, given her basementdwelling approval ratings from the previous year, nearly suggested
revolution.26
For many, however, there was a darker side to the legacy of the
Falklands spirit. For the naysayers, Thatcher’s triumphant adventurism
on the high seas had more to do with sheer serendipity than sound
leadership. Curiously, the Madame Prime Minister’s luck appeared to be
transatlantic.27 At home, she had reached the top of the greasy pole, as
Benjamin Disraeli called the game of politics, by running against an
inept Labour Party, in 1979, which was spoken for by the political leper,
Michael Foot. While abroad, her coterie of opponents appeared to have
curiously fallen from the same sick tree. This unified front of futility
allowed Thatcher to seamlessly transfer her Downing Street manners and
political temperament into the War Cabinet with relative ease. Giving
traction to this back-story was the revelation, that on multiple occasions,
Argentinian shells fortuitously failed to detonate after penetrating British
steel on the stormy South Seas.28 Considering its lauded maritime
bullishness and the flow of US-supplied Sidewinder missiles and
logistical support, Britain’s routing of the junta’s Armada was not as
inspiring as it was once thought to be.
Almost everything the government attempted was in some way
interconnected with the Falklands factor. For Thatcher, who had already
been given the sobriquet The Iron Lady by a Moscow propagandist no
less, the Falklands triumph legitimized her military prowess, emboldened
her electorate base, and perhaps, most significantly, reaffirmed her
conviction to remake the domestic scene. Yet, not all shared the post-war
afterglow. If Thatcher’s thick-skinned indifference and notorious
harshness toward her cabinet members was barely tolerable before
Argentina’s surrender during her first term, then what was one to expect
from her second term? Even after her death, Thatcher’s fidelity to the
spirit of the Falklands remains a point of variance among dyed-in-thewool Thatcherites, jilted-maudlin Labourites, and fellow-travelers.
Following her death, Gary Younge, writing in The Nation, scolded
Thatcher for the “petty nationalism” that was on display during the
parrying “client state” accusations, as post-war reshuffling now compelled
London to consult Washington prior to acting on the global stage. For a further
treatment of post-war Britain’s imperial demise, see Guy Arnold, Britain since
1945: Choice, Conflict and Change (London: Blandford, 1989), 41-49.
26
27
Ibid., 279-280.
28
Ibid.
194
In Memoriam
Falklands War.29 Further tarnishing her reputation was the surfacing of
details regarding the authorized sinking of the Belgrano (in which 368
sailors drowned) while it was outside of the Exclusion Zone near the
Falklands. Later, at Chequers, while entertaining a prominent group of
artists, including Andrew Lloyd-Webber, Thatcher, while surveying the
furniture, proudly noted the corner chair in which she had sat when she
elected to scuttle the Belgrano.30 Her triumphal bearing is noticeably
missing in The Downing Street Years, in which she describes the
Belgrano sailing on the edge of the Exclusion Zone while the ship’s
“poor state of battle readiness greatly increased the casualties.”31 She
goes on to blame the Belgrano’s escorts for failing to rescue the
drowning seamen. No longer writing from the “Belgrano chair,” the once
warrior-queen had seemingly become a queen apologist. The same spear
that was used to claim her greatest victory had now splintered in her
hand. The immediate effect that the Falklands had on Thatcher, however,
was much less fragmented.
In the aftermath of victory, the prime minister gloried in her
newfound Churchillian radiance. The nation, it seemed, had been reborn.
Whatever doubt remained in Thatcher’s mind regarding the rectitude of
her intentions, either foreign or domestic, and her ability to superintend
those aims, was soon to join the Belgrano. Meanwhile, after the elevenweek campaign had ended, and Thatcher returned to more civil matters,
she appeared unable to temper the tenacity that she had enthusiastically
displayed within the War Cabinet. The transition was unsettling. After
the hated governing junta had capitulated, Thatcher’s gunboat diplomacy
turned its bowsprit north, navigated away from the South Atlantic, and
sailed straight up the Thames. Torpedoing the hull of an Argentinian
cruiser required a particular type of mettle, alleviating public squalor in
Bristol and Manchester another. Or did it?
The Falklands Reconsidered
Once the Parliamentary backslapping abated and the singing of “Rule
Britannia” had been drowned-out by economic woes, questions began to
surface regarding the Falklands’ pre-history and Thatcher’s retaking of
the islands. The questions and details surrounding the decision to sink the
Belgrano, curiously became murkier as the fog of war lifted. Predictably,
the prime minister was not about to open the door to such solicitations. It
may have begun to drizzle, but Thatcher was not quite done parading.
29
Gary Younge, “How Did Thatcher Do It?” The Nation, April 29, 2013,
accessed June 8, 2013, http://www.thenation.com/article/173732/how-didmargaret-thatcher-do-it.
30
31
195
In Memoriam
Nonetheless, thunderclouds were appearing. Once it surfaced that the
Belgrano had been sailing away from the Falklands and not toward the
islands, as the British people had been mistakenly led to believe, the
pretext for sinking the moribund vessel came into question. When
pressed regarding the discrepancy during a BBC Television interview, a
visibly annoyed Thatcher nearly sparked a political grease fire when she
protested that the ship “was not sailing away from the Falklands.”32
Apparently, her compass needed recalibrating. When it was later
revealed that a senior civil servant in the Ministry of Defense, Clive
Ponting, had secretly leaked incriminating details of what had actually
happened to the vessel in the cold waters of the South Atlantic, he was
swiftly prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act of 1911.33 Although
Ponting was later acquitted, the Iron Lady emerged from her televised fit
of vapors having lost some of her luster. For many, Ponting’s indictment
and trial evidenced another attempt by Mrs. Thatcher to ghostwrite her
post-Falklands hagiography, a narrative, which largely due to a yeoman’s
work of editing, would read well during her re-election in 1983.
For Thatcher’s supporters, the Argentinian campaign reflected
her ability to make top-level decisions, take risks, and confront
tremendous obstacles. During the crisis, she noticeably eschewed her
own diplomats for the company of admirals and generals. Having been
the only female member of the Carlton Club since 1975, she was well
versed in the posing and overcompensation typically characteristic at allmale gatherings. Thatcher was as comfortable on the shop floor as she
was with shoptalk. Parliament soon discovered, to the dismay of many,
that she was better suited for administering the gladiatorial thumbs-down
to the beleaguered Belgrano than negotiating with trade unions. These
traits served her well during wartime, as certain occasions require
specific skill sets. According to Anthony King, could anyone other than
de Gaulle have pulled France’s chestnuts out of the fire in Algeria?
Would either Heath or Callaghan have engaged in a fight with the
Galtieri junta?34
On the other hand, much of this triumphalism was a mere
papering-over of the cracks in the edifice. Amidst accusations of having
mismanaged the war and misleading the public, victory nevertheless
convinced Thatcher of her own righteousness. “The Old Testament
prophets did not say, 'Brothers, I want a consensus,'" she once remarked.
"They said, 'This is my faith. This is what I passionately believe. If you
32
“Margaret Thatcher on Nationwide Questioned over the Belgrano,” 5:49, from
a televised interview for “Nationwide” on BBC Television May 24, 1983, posted
by “harmlessdrudge1986,” May 5, 2013, accessed June 8, 2013, YouTube video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZlP5qQVtE.
33
34
Anthony King, “The Outsider as Political Leader: The Case of Margaret
Thatcher,” British Journal of Political Science 32, no. 3 (2002): 453.
196
In Memoriam
believe it, too, then come with me;" coincidentally, not long after His
Holiness, Pope John Paul II, would pay her a visit in London.35 At the
height of her post-Falklands acme, Thatcher’s outsider-rebel status was
smelted and fashioned into a formidable weapon, wielded at friend and
foe alike. When it came to describing the relationship with her European
ministerial colleagues, swimmingly would not have been the operative
term. Political fratricide was never beneath her. She held an acute disdain
for Conservative “wets” who, as W.H. Auden said of poets, make
“nothing happen.”36 Anthony King reminds us “Thatcher became the
first prime minister in British history to sack cabinet ministers on a large
scale, not because they were incompetent, but because they disagreed
with her.”37 The lady, who was famously “not for turning,” was also not
for moderating, placating, or conceding. Either no one told her that the
lion’s share of Old Testament prophets were killed by their own people,
or she simply did not care. “But what Thatcherism stood for more than
anything else was the ‘smack of firm government.’”38
Thatcher and the UK Miners' Strike of 1984–85
If West Africa was known as the “white man’s graveyard” during the late
nineteenth century, then the coal union’s bargaining table was the
Conservative man’s graveyard in the late twentieth century. As Thatcher
dispensed the quinine and readied her cabinet in the spring of 1984, there
were plenty of political scars still visible from the 1973–74 miners’ strike
that had coughed up Conservative Prime Minister, Ted Heath. Despite
Thatcher’s prophylactics, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
and its Marxist president, Arthur Scargill, held an almost Cromwellian
power to make or break British governments, or at the very least,
browbeat and threaten policymakers with their collection of Conservative
pelts. Coal production had been in decline since the First World War, and
by the time the post-war Labour Government, under Clement Attlee, had
carried out their commitment for nationalization in 1947, production had
decreased from 292 million tons to 187 million tons.39 “By the 1970s the
coal mining industry had come to symbolize everything that was wrong
with Britain,” grizzled Thatcher.40 Having had her moral clarity recently
35
Margaret Thatcher, “Speech to Conservative Rally in Cardiff,” Margaret
Thatcher Foundation, accessed June 8, 2013.
http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/104011.
36
W.H. Auden, “In Memory of W.B. Yeats,” in Collected Shorter Poems 19271957 (New York: Random House, 1966), 142.
37
King, 447.
38
Judt, 540.
39
40
Ibid.
197
In Memoriam
honed in the Falklands, Thatcher looked at the NUM with the eyes of a
hunter who had already tasted blood. The NUM was uncompetitive,
inefficient, overstaffed, and domineering. Not only had they parasitized
the post-war Keynesian welfare state, but as representatives of the British
working class, they wielded powerful political cudgels as well. Thatcher,
with the zealotry of an Old Testament prophet, wasted little time in
conspiring to cut down the NUM. A blueprint for dealing a fatal blow to
the unions had been floating about since the mid-1970s. The so-called
Ridley Plan, named after Nicholas Ridley, a fellow Conservative who
had held hands with Heath while heading toward electoral disaster in
1973–74, called for a cold-blooded battle of attrition. Ridley’s script, no
less, was a splendid slice of Machiavellian statecraft. The arrangement
called for economic siege warfare combined with a well-trained, mobile
police force, available to maintain order once desperate workers began to
cross picket lines. To be sure, the plan was radical, perhaps too radical
for Thatcher, at least during her first term.
To no one’s surprise, and everyone’s anticipation, Scargill, short
on stature and memory, described Thatcher’s re-election as “the worst
national disaster for a hundred years.”41 Thatcher braced for a political
duel. By autumn, both camps began to size up one another. Ian
MacGregor, the man who had recently put British steel back in the black,
was tapped by Thatcher to chair the National Coal Board (NCB) and
participate in the difficult task of negotiating with the NUM. Thatcher
and MacGregor’s prescription for the coal industry included cutting the
workforce by sixty-four thousand over three years, decreasing coal
output by twenty-five million tons, and closing a number of uneconomic
pits on a pit-by-pit basis (i.e., by 1983, roughly seventy-five percent of
coal pits were losing money).42 The prospect of closing uneconomic pits
was anathema to Scargill, and any attempt by the union to doff its hat to
conciliation was akin to mining a bad tooth.
Meanwhile, as the standoff began to play out on the evening
news, the NUM circulated the story that Thatcher had a secret hit list of
pits due for closure--an accusation that Thatcher denies in The Downing
Street Years.43 Forgoing the requisite national ballot, which required a
fifty-five percent majority vote, Scargill instead called for a strike in
Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire in March of 1984. By mid-year it was
clear that MacGregor, then aged seventy, was beginning to tire. The man
who Thatcher once described as her only equal had proven the prime
minister’s excessive praise to be just that.44 The use of the Ridley Plan,
however, now allowed Thatcher and the NCB to escape disaster and
41
Ibid., 367.
Ibid., 343.
43
Ibid.
44
42
198
In Memoriam
redouble their efforts. The plan—akin to moves in a game of chess—
called for: storing coal at the power stations and not the pit heads, check;
for setting aside the funds necessary to maximize oil-fired power stations
in order to offset diminishing coal output, check; for importing
alternative power from France and Scotland, check; for cutting-off
financial support to mining families, forcing the union to provide for
them, check; and, finally, for deploying a substantial number of welltrained riot police, checkmate.
The Strike Ends
In September, the government’s negotiations were interrupted when
Patrick Magee, a member of the Irish Republican Army (IRA), detonated
a long-delay time bomb next to Thatcher’s suite at the Grand Hotel in
Brighton as she prepared to deliver a speech at a Conservative Party
conference. The explosion waylaid the Conservative leadership, killing
five and wounding thirty-one. Thatcher, who was working on her speech,
at 2:54 a.m., barely skirted the blast as it buckled the second floor of the
Grand Hotel and rearranged the prime minister’s lavatory.45 England was
appalled; not since the Gunpowder Plot of 1605 had conspirators so
brazenly attempted to assassinate a British head of state. Thatcher
emerged unscathed, undaunted, and unyielding as she redoubled her
convictions the following morning and delivered her speech as
scheduled. In retrospect, her survival had less to do with the rectitude of
her Victorian morals and more with the resilience of Victorian
architecture. The IRA’s handiwork might have left a heavy footprint on
the Grand Hotel, but the old façade’s structural integrity proved salvific
for the Iron Lady. The entire sordid affair was disastrous for Scargill and
the NUM. Smelling blood, Thatcher wasted no time. “These are the very
dangers which we face in Britain today. At one end of the spectrum are
the terrorist gangs within our borders, and the terrorist states, which
finance and arm them. At the other are the hard left operating inside our
system, conspiring to use union power and the apparatus of local
government to break, defy and subvert the laws,” remarked Thatcher to
the Carlton Club following the bombing.46 Emboldened by her own
brush with death, and aware of the window of public sympathy that she
had been afforded since the attempt on her life, Thatcher out-flanked the
opposition. During speeches and interviews, she began to preach that the
far left was soft terrorism. As an avowed Marxist, Scargill was
indubitably reproached as a public menace and security threat. The game
was up for the NUM. While Britain was still reeling from the Brighton
45
46
199
In Memoriam
Hotel bombing, Thatcher had snatched the lifejacket from a drowning
Scargill. The Ridley Plan, which had been sewn in the defeat of the 1974
coal strike, was now being reaped in the victory of the 1984 strike.
Scargill’s final pleas amounted to no more than a deathbed confession, as
coal miners across the country laced up their steel-toe boots and returned
to the pits. After more than a year, the strike ended unceremoniously.
The strike, however, was never solely about union rights. For
Thatcher, the moralist, pitched battles were always distilled down to a
conflict between good and evil, and she, more than anyone else, knew
which side she represented. Yet, much of Britain did not share her
appetite for spiritual warfare. There was no self-congratulatory posturing
or memorializing once the strike ended, and miners returned to work.
Unlike during the Argentinian conflict, for most British people, there was
no other during the standoff. Besides, the “real reason the miners’ strike
failed was simple: At the 1983 election, only two out of five union
members had voted Labour.”47 Having played the role of engaged
bystander during the mass picketing, the British people were given a
domestic encore to Thatcher’s critically acclaimed performance in the
Falklands two years prior. Yet, the bullying and browbeating of one’s
own countrymen is a far different matter. As much as Thatcher’s reading
list included Friedrich von Hayek and Winston Churchill, it was her copy
of Machiavelli’s The Prince that emerged from the yearlong strike dogeared and well-exercised. As Judt said, “The British were once again
being ruled.”48
Notwithstanding the union’s overtures to the working man, once
the strike had been terminated, the public’s affection for Scargill was
47
Geoffrey Wheatcroft, “The Importance of Being Prickly: How Margaret
Thatcher Ruled,” The New Republic, April 13, 2013, accessed June 5, 2013,
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112888/margaret-thatcher-and-importancebeing-prickly#.
48
Judt, 541. Although Thatcher’s wardrobe preference typically leaned toward
Aquascutum, and her handbag likings Launer, her economic tastes were firmly
Austrian. On one occasion, during a Conservative Party gathering, chafed by the
circuitous oratory of a fellow confrère, Thatcher commandeered from her
briefcase a copy of Austrian economist, Friedrich von Hayek’s The Constitution
of Liberty. Holding the book up high for all to see, she said, “This is what we
believe,” and “banged Hayek down on the table.” John Ranelagh, Thatcher's
People: An Insider's Account of the Politics, the Power, and the Personalities
(London: Harper Collins, 1991), ix. Indeed, her policies proved to be one
generous helping after another from Hayek’s neoliberal smorgasbord. In some
cases through book, chapter, and verse. To understand Thatcher’s loathing of the
welfare state, see chapter 17 of The Constitution of Liberty. For her views on
subsidized housing, see chapter 22. For her views on labor unions, read chapter
18. To understand her position on private property, see page 207. See F.A.
Hayek, The Constitution of Liberty, trans. and ed. Ronald Hamowy (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2011).
200
In Memoriam
virtually nonexistent. However, neither was Downing Street bereft of
blemish. Thatcher’s anti-trades union odyssey had whittled away the
industrial and manufacturing sectors in the North, leaving three million
British jobless by 1985. Judt surmised “by disdaining and dismantling all
collectively-held resources, by vociferously insisting upon an
individualist ethic that discounted any unquantifiable assets, Margaret
Thatcher did serious harm to the fabric of British public life.”49
Thatcherism: Alive and Well?
Indeed, if the bureaucratic miasma and “stagflation” of the 1970s
vindicated Hayek’s economic forecast, then Thatcher’s declawing of the
militant labor unions (i.e., the Trades Union Congress lost seventeen
percent of its membership within five years) legitimized her own
prognostications. Under Thatcher, the Conservative Party had corralled
inflation, humbled the labor force, curbed union power, and emboldened
her middle-class constituency. Perhaps most telling is that the key tenets
of Thatcherism are alive and well to this day. They debut each week
during Questions to the Prime Minister. After Callaghan and Thatcher
took consecutive turns at the wheel, veering first to the left, then to the
far right, the keys were passed to Tony Blair who tried to stay between
the lines. Even then, the ship of state still tacked to the right. When
Thatcher was asked to name her greatest achievement, she gave the nod
to Tony Blair, the practicing “Third Way” Labourite. Following her
death in April, the Millennials who participated in the anti-Thatcher
campaign on YouTube were no doubt responding to their parents and
grandparents carping of how Thatcher had forced them to give away the
family silver.
The Benefit of “Luck”
In both life and death, Thatcher’s achievements were routinely dismissed
as merely owing to luck (if one believes in such a thing) or favorable
circumstances. “How Did Margaret Thatcher Do It?” rang the title of
Gary Younge’s scabrous review in The Nation, following the
announcement of her death in April.50 “She was lucky in her enemies,”
decried Geoffrey Wheatcroft in the New Republic.51 There is something
to be said for the shortcomings of Gorbachev and Galtieri, and the
indolence within the Labour Party (nor did Scargill’s collectivist
49
Judt, 543.
Younge, 10.
51
Wheatcroft, 7.
50
201
In Memoriam
imaginings cause anyone to forget Trotsky). This hand is often played,
however. Even posthumously, Thatcher is able to elude these darts which
are pulled from the pocket of the crowd who has grown accustom to
twenty years of mealy-mouthed politicians on both sides of the pond.
Besides, the “lucky” charge could be ascribed to any leader. Churchill
was lucky not to catch a Pashtun bullet in the frontier region of British
India. After writing over eight hundred pages in Postwar, many of
which are dedicated to revolutions, Judt judiciously remarked that
“Thatcher, like all the best revolutionaries, was fortunate in her
enemies.”52 Successful revolutions are the handmaidens of good fortune.
Domestic Destruction
For those not swayed by the whims of fortune and chance, there remain
plenty of valid criticisms to direct at Thatcher. Most of her economic
victories, despite their efficiency, were pyrrhic. Under the Iron Lady,
unemployment skyrocketed and the majority of the populace, especially
the working-class, suffered mightily.53 The neoliberal gauntlet of
privatization and deregulation were ubiquitous during her three electoral
victories. Her attempts to dismantle the welfare state were radical. The
mass auctioning-off of public housing to tenants opened the housing
market to speculation and saddled the middle-classes with a culture of
debt, which they would pay for in spades during the property crash of the
early 1990s. As a society, the British people suffocated under Thatcher.54
Conclusion
When cataloguing the entire Argentine engagement, there is an
inescapable Manichaean proclivity to distil and divide Thatcher’s
handling of the affair into terms of good or evil, saint or sinner. Despite
holding onto this unrequited hope for clarity, however, rarely does life’s
tree yield us such low hanging fruit. Inevitably, history will veil the facts,
leaving us to run toward the warm embrace of simple speculation.
Surely, however, life’s mosaic provides a more byzantine reading; at
least it has in the case of Margaret Thatcher.
Inasmuch as some authors, such as Martin Holmes, argue that
Britain’s economy operated at a practiced cadence under Thatcher,
others, such as Tony Judt, recall how British society foundered under her
52
Judt, 542.
David Harvey, “Neo-liberalism as Creative Destruction,” Swedish Society for
Anthropology and Geography 88, no. 2 (2006): 155.
54
Judt, 543.
53
202
In Memoriam
tutelage. Following her death, two lines began to form behind these
markers and spar over her legacy. Yet, these debates, while important,
are limited in their explanatory scope. Like many discussions regarding
an individual’s legacy, the long-term consequences and continuing
effects often become the starting point from which people argue
backward. While such a course may brush-in the background of the
portrait, it often fails to paint the subject.
In sketching Thatcher’s tactics during the Falklands War and the
UK miners’ strike, one characteristic emerges alongside her legacy: that
of an outsider-leader. Indeed, and for all of her peddling of free market
liberalism and nouveau riche appeal, Thatcher was a provincial, born in
bucolic Grantham, a grocer’s daughter. Within British Conservatism, she
was an outsider who abjured consensus, reveled in Parliamentary
brinkmanship, and shunned the conventional and despised Tory
grandees. Depending on the company, she was always careful to either
play up or play down her rearing as a petite bourgeoisie. Thatcher was
fiercely independent, deeply suspicious, and rather adept at accumulating
enemies. Self-identifying as an outsider characterized much of her
legacy. Convinced of the soundness of her opinions and hemmed in by a
coterie of ideological sycophants, Thatcher drew a non-negotiable ethical
line in the sand. Those who chose to differ with her were considered
turncoats. It was not the harmony of the Sermon on the Mount that
stirred her, but the desert morality and righteous indignation of the sages
in the Old Testament. It was from this moral fount that she drank
heavily. Opposing governments, Marxist labor unions, welfare state
apologists, and, as reported on occasion, visiting editors and mulish
diplomats alike were conflated into a single roguish syndicate.
Argentina’s Galtieri and the NUM’s Scargill were merely two heads of
the same serpent-like Hydra. She dealt lead to the former and a lethal
dose of Conservative retribution to the latter. Although the ethic of her
legacy will continue to be disputed, her impact on British politics will
not. “To anyone who had fallen asleep in England in 1978 and awoken
twenty years later, their country would have seemed unfamiliar indeed:
quite unlike its old self—and markedly different from the rest of
Europe.”55
55
Judt, 547.
203
In Memoriam
Bibliography
Arnold, Guy. Britain Since 1945: Choice, Conflict and Change.
London: Blandford, 1989.
Auden, W.H. “In Memory of W.B. Yeats.” In Collected Shorter
Poems 1927-1957. New York: Random House, 1966.
“Anger at George Galloway's 'tramp the dirt down' Twitter Remark
after Thatcher's Death,” London Evening Standard, April 8,
2013. Accessed June 8, 2013.
http://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/anger-at-georgegalloways-tramp-the-dirt-down-twitter-remark-afterthatchers-death-8564876.html.
Churchill, Winston. The Hinge of Fate, volume IV. New York:
Houghton Mifflin Company, 1950.
Douglas, James. “The Changing Tide-Some Recent Studies of
Thatcherism.” British Journal of Political Science 19, no. 3
(1989): 399-424.
Epstein, Leon D. British Politics in the Suez Crisis. Urbana, IL:
University of Illinois Press, 1964.
Harris, Robin. The Collected Speeches of Margaret Thatcher. New
York: Harper Collins, 1997.
Harvey, David. “Neo-liberalism as Creative Destruction,” Swedish
Society for Anthropology and Geography 88, no. 3 (2006):
145-158.
Hayek, F.A. The Constitution of Liberty. Translated and edited by
Ronald Hamowy. Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2011.
Holmes, Martin. The First Thatcher Government. Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 1985.
Jenkins, Peter. Mrs. Thatcher’s Revolution: The Ending of the
Socialist Era. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Press, 1988.
Judt, Tony. Postwar: A History of Europe since 1945. New York:
Penguin Books, 2005.
204
In Memoriam
Kavanagh, Dennis. Thatcherism and British Politics: The End of
Consensus? New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
Keegan, William. Mrs. Thatcher’s Economic Experiment.
London: Allen Lane, 1984.
King, Anthony. “The Outsider as Political Leader: The Case of
Margaret Thatcher.” British Journal of Political Science
32, no. 3 (2002): 435-454.
Krieger, Joel. Reagan, Thatcher and the Politics of Decline.
Oxford: Polity Press, 1986.
“Margaret Thatcher on Nationwide Questioned over the
Belgrano.” YouTube video, 5:49, from a televised
interview for “Nationwide” on BBC Television May 24,
1983. Posted by harmlessdrudge1986,” May 5, 2013.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JZ1P5qQVtE.
McClam, Erin. “Margaret Thatcher, 'Iron Lady' Who Led
Conservative Resurgence in Britain, Dies at 87.” NBC
News, April 8, 2013. Accessed June 8, 2013.
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/08/1765338
8-.html.
Marsh, David. “British Industrial Relations Policy Transformed:
The Thatcher Legacy.” Journal of Public Policy 11, no. 3
(1991): 291-313.
Norpoth, Helmut. “The Falklands War and Government Popularity
in Britain: Rally without Consequence or Surge without
Decline?” Electoral Studies 6, no. 1 (1987): 3-16.
“On This Day, 1979: Election Victory for Margaret Thatcher.”
BBC News. May 4, 1979. Accessed June 8, 2013.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/may/4/new
sid_2503000/2503195.stm.
“Queen Saddened by Thatcher’s Death.” MSN News, April 8,
http://new.uk.msn.com/uk/queen-saddened-by-thatchers-
death.
205
In Memoriam
Ranelagh, John. Thatcher's People: An Insider's Account of the
Politics, the Power, and the Personalities. London:
HarperCollins, 1991.
Sands, Philippe. Review of “The First Thatcher Government by
Martin Holmes and Thatcher: The First Term by Patrick
Cosgrave.” Boston College International & Comparative
Law Review 9, no. 2 (1986): 450-454.
Thatcher, Margaret. The Downing Street Years. New York: Harper
Collins, 1993.
--------. “Speech to Conservative Rally in Cardiff,” (speech, Cardiff, UK,
April 16, 1979) Margaret Thatcher Foundation. Accessed June 8,
2013. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4092248.
Wheatcroft, Geoffrey. “The Importance of Being Prickly: How
Margaret Thatcher Rule.” New Republic. April 13, 2013.
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/112888/margaretthatcher-and-importance-being-prickly#.
Young, Hugo. The Iron Lady: A Biography of Margaret Thatcher.
New York: Macmillan Limited, 1989.
-------- and Anne Sloman. The Thatcher Phenomenon. London: BBC
Books, 1986.
Younge, Gary. “How Did Thatcher Do It?” The Nation. April 29,
http://www.thenation.com/article/173732/how-didmargaret-thatcher-do-it.
206
Reviews
Presidential Documents
The United States’ Presidential Libraries house large archives that hold
some of the most important documents and records of the country's past.
Some of the most controversial issues in our nation’s history, such as
Watergate and the Iran-Contra records, can be found in these archives.
The museums and archives in these libraries are separate entities, but
they work together to represent a truthful outlook on their president's
legacy. Archivists preserve, organize, and prepare presidential materials
for public viewing, while curators use those materials in their exhibits for
public presentation. The Libraries are the key holders for all documents
once a president finishes their term. Although many of these items are
archived, controversy over who has access to them remains an issue.
Archivists should have access to all presidential materials, political and
private, for preserving presidential history and a truthful representation
of Presidential legacy.
Presidential libraries did not always exist. The first presidential
library began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roosevelt had
wanted to share his personal collections, as well as his presidential
documents, with the public. Before Roosevelt, presidents had “donated
their papers to the Library of Congress, state historical societies, or
universities…some presidents sold their papers; and some papers were
even destroyed.”1 Roosevelt instead felt that the public should have the
right to view and access his papers. He used a building (which he already
owned) to build the first presidential library in 1939.
After Roosevelt had established this first library, following
presidents have built their own as well. The United States’ presidents and
government felt that it was important to preserve presidential histories
and share them with the public by building these libraries and archives.
In 1955, congress passed the Presidential Libraries Act to help influence
presidents to donate their records to the government and open up their
own libraries. The archives were then placed in the hands of the National
Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Today, there are a total
of thirteen presidential libraries affiliated with the National Archives.2
Until 1978, United States presidents owned the rights to all their
records. It was up to them as to whether or not they wanted to donate
1
Nancy Kegan Smith and Gary M. Stern, “A Historical Review of Access to
Records in Presidential Libraries,” The Public Historian 28, no. 3 (2006): 81.
2
“National Archives and Records Administration,” accessed March 15, 2014,
http://www.archives.gov/locations/.
207
their documents. Richard Nixon’s attempt to destroy evidence of his
Watergate scandal changed the way presidential materials and records
were handled. After resigning, due to threat of impeachment, Richard
Nixon signed an agreement with the Administrator of the General
Services Administration. This agreement "granted Nixon legal title to the
materials, including the right not only to control access to them but also
to destroy them."3 Congress responded by passing the 1974 Presidential
Recordings and Materials Preservation Act, which kept Nixon from
demolishing his tapes.4 If congress had not done this, those documents
would not be available today for research, or as evidence of Nixon’s
reason for his resignation from the presidency. The National Archives
and Records Administration had issued an agreement with the Nixon
Library, in Yorba Linda, California, to become affiliated with them in
2007, and help the library update their Watergate exhibit.5
Nixon’s attempt to destroy his tapes led Congress to find a better
solution for protecting presidential records in the future. Congress
initiated the Presidential Records Act (PRA) in 1978 to protect
presidential records from being destroyed by future presidents. “The
PRA changed the legal ownership of the official records of the President
from private to public, and established a new statutory structure under
which Presidents must manage their records.”6 Since the Watergate
scandal and the enactment of the Presidential Records Act of 1978,
presidents have been legally battling the American Historical
Association, the American Library Association, and the National
Security Archive over the rights to their documents.
President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush both
challenged the Presidential Records Act in court. Reagan tried to destroy
his Iran-Contra Affair records that had discussions about selling weapons
to Iran. The Reagan administration wanted to clear the tapes out before
Bush took over the presidency, even though the incoming administration
wanted these items removed as well. A lawsuit conducted by the
American Historical Association, American Library Associations and the
National Security Archive, stopped the administrations from destroying
these items. 7 Reagan was dropped from charges at the end of his term,
3
Bruce P. Montgomery, “Nixon’s Ghost Haunts the Presidential Records Act:
The Reagan and George W. Bush Administrations.” Presidential Studies
Quarterly 32, no.4 (2002): 792.
4
Bruce P. Montgomery, “Presidential Materials: Politics and the Presidential
Records Act,” The American Archivist 66, no. 1 (2003): 105.
5
“Richard Nixon Foundation,” accessed March 15, 2014,
http://nixonfoundation.org/2012/07/the-facts-about-the-creation-of-thewatergate-exhibit-at-the-nixon-library/3/.
6
“National Archives and Records Administration.”
7
Bruce P. Montgomery, “Presidential Materials: Politics and the Presidential
Records Act,” The American Archivist 66, no. 1 (2003): 112.
208
but the lawsuit was still pursued on Bush. “On 6 January 1993, Judge
Charles R. Richey ruled that the computer tapes containing copies of
electronic messages by members of the Reagan and Bush administrations
must be preserved like other government records.”8 The Bush
administration, eager to remove the electronic records before the
incoming Clinton administration, made an agreement with archivist Don
Wilson. This agreement gave Bush the authority over his records, which
included allowing him to request destruction of the electronic files.9
In 2001, President George W. Bush initiated Executive Order
No. 13233. This order was an attempt for “…removing the power from
the archivist of the United States to authorize access to presidential
records.”10 Many protested against this, claiming that it was overriding
the Presidential Records Act. Although many had tried to challenge the
order, it remained in place until President Obama revoked it in his first
year as President. George W. Bush’s attempts to take power back over
presidential documents shows how important these documents are, not
only to the people, but to the presidents as well.
Archivists dedicated to preserving presidential history are
challenged with the complicated process of getting presidential
documents ready for public viewing. They must deal with the Freedom
of Information Act (FOIA) of 1966, which slows down the processing of
records. FOIA allows the public the right to “obtain access to federal
agency records, except to the extent that such records (or portions of
them) are protected from public disclosure by one of nine exemptions or
by one of three special law enforcement record exclusions.”11 FOIA
allows up to five years after a president is out of office before the
documents are subject to its requests. The first five years is valuable for
archives, because it gives them a chance to get the materials organized.
Some documents, mostly those that could be controversial, can be held
up to twelve years before they can be released. If there are any specific
documents that are problematic, or are still sensitive even after twelve
years, then a continued hold could be placed on the item. For classified
documents, archivists have to give “agencies with ‘equities’ in the
protected information a chance to argue against release.”12 Even if these
documents have reached the twelve year release time, another reason
could be found for not releasing them. If they have been approved for
release, they may still have to go through a process for desensitizing
8
Ibid., 116.
Ibid., 119.
10
Thomas James Connors, “Papers of the President or of the Presidency: Who
Owns Presidential Records? Some Recent History and a Challenge,” Portal:
Libraries and the Academy 2, no. 4 (2002): 653.
11
“Freedom of Information Act,” accessed March 20, 2014,
http://www.foia.gov/about.html.
12
Kenneth Jost, “Presidential Libraries,” CQ Researcher 17, no. 11 (2007): 246.
9
209
them.
Another complicated issue for archives is that they do not have
enough help for the amount of documents, materials, and records they
are given. There are “80 million pages at the Clinton library…around 10
archivists each, for example, at the Reagan and Clinton Libraries.”13 For
this reason, it can create an even longer time span on certain items for
release. Researchers can request certain items to be processed or
released, but it still could take a long time before the items become
available. Sharon K. Fawcett, President of the Libraries’ Archives, states
that “ten archivists are able to process only about 250,000 pages per
year.”14 If the items have not yet been organized, then they cannot be
open to the public. This is unfair for researchers who may be interested
in learning about their presidents. It should be mandatory to have enough
archivists to make sure these documents are preserved properly. The
archives are also unable to accept new items from people who may have
known the president. This is because there is not enough time to process
any new material. This could lead to loss of important historical
information that could be potentially useful for researchers.
Presidents were aware that releasing certain papers to the public
could cause publicity damage, uprisings, or controversies. They make
confidential decisions over situations they feel the public does not need
to know about. Additionally, they may feel their decisions are in the
country’s best interests, even though they know the people would
disagree. The president keeps these decisions secret for a reason, because
they know it could lead to public mayhem. The Freedom of Information
Act of 1966 recognizes this. If an item is, or could still be, a heated issue
or detrimental to a government agency, they may lock a hold on those
documents and not release them even after the twelve year limit.15 It
helps to protect a president’s reputation, but it also controls any negative
feedback from the people. Thomas Jefferson knew this when he stated
that, "Honest men might justifiably withhold information, if they
expected the communication would be made public, and commit them to
war with their neighbors and friends."16 Both the presidents and
archivists are aware that these restricted items are essential to the United
States’, political history, so they remain preserved, but are not allowed
for public viewing.
Presidents want to have the option to pick and choose what they
feel should be put into their archives. Some presidents do not want
certain controversial documents available to the public so that they are
13
Ibid.
Sharon K. Fawcett, “Presidential Libraries: A View from the Center.” The
Public Historian 28, no. 3 (2006): 22.
15
Montgomery, 107.
16
Connors, 656.
14
210
not portrayed negatively. For example, the Reagan Library features only
a single small video segment of Reagan admitting to his affiliation with
the Iran–Contra within one of its exhibits.17 The Presidents may try to
have these documents destroyed or covered up. The Presidential Records
Act helps to ensure that these documents remain in the hands of the
National Archivists. Despite what the presidents may think about their
controversial decisions, their decisions are important to preserve. Their
decisions, which are reflected in their materials, do not only represent
U.S. history, but it represents the presidents themselves.
Presidents have also wanted to be able to choose which items are
archived for the matter of privacy. Presidents have kept diaries, written
letters, and recorded or taped conversations as President Nixon had done
with Watergate. Presidents began to learn that keeping these materials
could lead to controversy and even be used against them in court.
“During the Iran–Contra investigations, both Ronald Reagan and the
elder George Bush were forced to surrender portions of their private
diaries, which were published against their will while they still sat in the
Oval Office.”18 Presidents soon learned ways to avoid sensitive or private
materials from becoming part of the archives. They came up with
different code names for documents so courts would not be aware of
them, or if they kept a diary, they would claim they did not. 19 If they
kept documents out of the system, they could not be claimed by archives.
Private letters to family and friends are still considered material
necessary for archiving. Some presidents wrote letters about important
issues to friends to get their input on them. The First Ladies would write
love letters to their husbands and those were kept even if there was no
mention of political topics. It is considered that all documents that come
through the White House during a president’s term are considered to be
potential archived material. Al Gonzales, a member of George W. Bush’s
counsel, stated that if the president has a conversation with his wife and
begins to “…ask for their input or opinion about the tax plan or a speech
he is giving…, it crosses the line.”20 It is considered presidential material
and should be documented. Although a president may feel that a letter
from his friend or wife is private, those letters could be influential
somehow to a decision he may make as president.
Even though Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky would
be considered a private matter, it became public. Materials relating to his
relationship with her have been placed in the National Archives. His
library’s museum even contains a segment dedicated to this moment in
17
Jost, 246.
Michael Beschloss, “Knowing What Really Happened,” Presidential Studies
Quarterly 32, no. 4 (2002): 644.
19
Ibid., 645.
20
Ibid., 646.
18
211
his career with “… an argumentative title: The Fight for Power.”21
Although it seems that it would be a private matter, his affair with
Lewinsky led to future allegations and impeachment. Although Clinton
managed to survive trial without being removed from presidency, his
private affair with Lewinsky is now archived, and the historical
significance of his affair is vital to presidential history.
Presidential documents, political and private, are vital not only to
United States history, but also to the history of the presidents’ lives. If
only political issues were processed and archived, we would only have a
political view of that president’s life. Having personal items that had
belonged to the president helps to give us a better view of what that
president was like. It gives researchers the ability to get to know that
president on a more personal level, rather than just on a political one.
Martha Joynt Kumar, a presidential historian of Towson University,
holds truth to this by saying, “The archived papers ‘help provide an
unvarnished view of the presidency.”22 Each president has a unique
personality, and each runs the country in a unique way. By looking
deeper into their personal and public documents, we can find a way to
understand them and their decisions better.
Over the years, technology has advanced, and presidents have
changed the way their information is documented. Leaning away from
the use of paper, electronics are now more reliable sources for
communication and documentation than they were fifteen years ago.
Today, presidents use cell phones, tablets, and computers on a daily
basis. Government has had to move swiftly to make sure President
Obama’s personal cell phone is tracked for documentation purposes. Due
to presidents using newer technology, there is a possibility that some
information can be lost. This may be a new challenge in the future for
historians and archivists.
All presidential documents, records, and materials are essential
to history. It is important for archives to have the amount of archivists
needed to make sure items are available for researchers and processing is
done properly. Although the presidents may not enjoy negative response
from the public for decisions they have made, items reflecting those
decisions are significant to a president's history and should be available
in their archives. Changing these documents, or getting permission to not
have them archived, changes the history of a president and his work.
Presidential documents, private or political, are a necessity for future
historical purposes, and should be archived to preserve presidential
legacies.
Cassie Grand
21
22
Jost, 246.
Ibid., 244.
212
Bibliography
Beschloss, Michael. “Knowing What Really Happened.”
Presidential Studies Quarterly 32, no. 4 (2002): 642-646.
Connors, Thomas James. “Papers of the President or of the
Presidency: Who Owns Presidential Records? Some Recent
History and a Challenge.” Portal: Libraries and the
Academy 2, no. 4 (2002): 653-657.
Fawcett, Sharon K. “Presidential Libraries: A View from the
Center.” The Public Historian 28, no. 3 (2006): 13-36.
“Freedom of Information Act.” Accessed March 20, 2014.
http://www.foia.gov/about.html.
Jost, Kenneth. “Presidential Libraries.” CQ Researcher 17, no. 11
(2007): 241-264
“National Archives and Records Administration.” Accessed March
15, 2014.
http://www.archives.gov/presidential-libraries/laws/1978act.html,
http://www.archives.gov/locations/.
Montgomery, Bruce P. “Presidential Materials: Politics and the
Presidential Records Act.” The American Archivist 66, no.
1 (2003): 102-138.
Montgomery, Bruce P. “Nixon’s Ghost Haunts the Presidential
Records Act: The Reagan and George W. Bush
Administrations.” Presidential Studies Quarterly 32, no.4
(2002): 789-809.
“Richard Nixon Foundation.” Accessed March 15, 2014.
http://nixonfoundation.org/2012/07/the-facts-about-thecreation-of-the-watergate-exhibit-at-the-nixon-library/3/.
Smith, Nancy Kegan and Gary M. Stern. “A Historical Review of
Access to Records in Presidential Libraries.” The Public
Historian 28, no. 3 (2006): 79-116.
213
214
Book Review: When Money Grew on Trees: A.B.
Hammond and the Age of the Timber Baron. By Greg
Gordon. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press: 2014.
In When Money Grew on Trees: A.B. Hammond and the Age of the
Timber Baron, Greg Gordon explores the transformation of land, labor,
and lumber in the West, during the life of lumberman Andrew Benoni
Hammond. Gordon shows Hammond to be a pervasive figure
successfully riding the tides of change. The many periods of Hammond’s
life reflect his ability to develop modern business practices, while
retaining ideas about business developed during his youth. Successfully
transitioning from frontier capitalism to modern incorporation,
Hammond moves across the country with the lumber industry on the
forefront of development in the west. From his childhood in New
Brunswick to his amassing one of the largest concentrations of
timberlands in the country, Gordon characterizes Hammond’s journey
from lumberjack to lumber baron through the resource-based conflicts
that Hammond fought to his final days. Gordon uses the company
records and personal information to create a portrait of not only an
individual, but a time.
Gordon often reflects on the environments that fostered
Hammond’s thoughts and motivations. Hammond’s upbringing in New
Brunswick, Canada sets the stage for later developments in his life. The
early shapers of Hammond’s life were his family library and his maternal
grandfather, Leonard Coombes, who would act as an early mentor to
Hammond as he lost his father early in life. Gordon points to Coombes
Anglo-Saxon Protestant influence as a central pillar to Hammond’s
success, due to the extolment of values such as saving and investment
over spending. Gordon states, “By the time he was sixteen, Andrew had
exhausted the family library that consisted of the Bible, the Works of
Shakespeare, Pilgrims Progress, and Alexander Kinglake’s Invasion of
the Crimea.” The books are a massive insight into the man Hammond
would become. The Hammonds valued education and were bilingual,
speaking English and French. Hammond would capitalize upon this
many times during his life. Even after moving toward modern corporate
practices, Hammond would hire his New Brunswick relatives as a
trustworthy staff.
Hammond’s family history is used by Gordon to give insight into
his willingness to completely ignore property ownership. Gordon uses
the Hammonds and Coombes to explore the culture of New Brunswick at
the time and how this shaped Hammond. Gordon typifies the culture of
New Brunswick as one of farmers that sold lumber on the side to provide
capital. The idea of natural resources as a commons developed in New
Brunswick allowing poaching timber to emerge as an acceptable
215
practice. The economy of the area being dependent on a single
commodity, however, led to cycles of boom and bust that were noticed
by the young Hammond and would shape his business practices for the
rest of his life.
Armed with a love of poetry and Napoleon, a strong Protestant
work ethic, and a disregard for ownership, Hammond leaves home at
sixteen for the logging camps of Maine. Transitioning mentors following
his grandfather's death to his eldest brother George, Hammond does not
stay in Maine long leaving for the gold fields of Montana. Here the
dream of gold enters the mix creating a drive toward the accumulation of
wealth. Gordon discusses Andrew Hammond’s separation from his
brother as his first test of his individual abilities. As the dream of gold
falls short, George continues on while Hammond stays on looking for
other means of acquiring wealth. Hammond becomes a “woodhawk,”
chopping lumber and trapping. Gordon describes the practices of the
woodhawks. Woodhawks would often kill a buffalo and then using a
porcupine quill dipped in strychnine poison the corpse. Gathering forty
or so of such traps in an area the woodhawks would then leave and return
for the more valuable pelts of wolves that thought they found an easy
meal. The issues that arose from such actions as these put Hammond and
other woodhawks into conflict with indigenous peoples that resented
such the wholesale cutting of their trees and killing of their game. After
narrowly avoiding death during raids by local peoples Hammond leaves
for the area around Missoula Montana.
In Montana Hammond flirted with many occupations, finally
finding a new role model in his future business partner Edward Bonner.
Hammond becomes a clerk in the local mercantile shop owned by Eddy
and Bonner. Within a few years of his straightforward dealings with
others, Hammond, would become a partner in the mercantile shop.
Gordon also looks deeply into Hammond’s diverse investments in
businesses throughout the Missoula valley. Hammond in attempting to
avoid the booms and busts that he saw in his childhood would often
diversify his investments into many fields. Gordon points to the over
extension of individuals around Hammond and their eventual ruin, as
leading Hammond to always maintain reserves and pay back bonds
before releasing dividends. Hammond’s safe practices are shown by
Gordon to be the cause of his rise in times where others fell. Hammond
invested into railroads and lumber heavily while maintaining the
mercantile as a secure line of credit for his investments. Hammond
would often grow during periods where others contracted buying up
businesses during economic downturns. Gordon evaluates Hammonds
slow accumulation of lumber lands, mills, and railroads as the foundation
for his empire stretching out of Montana eventually dominating the
lumber industry in Oregon, California, and parts of Arizona.
216
Gordon explores Hammond as an important figure in the
development of infrastructure in the Western United states, noting the
importance of regionally economically important individuals as the
developers of railroads and resource infrastructure. In exploring
Hammond Gordon explores the development of the lumber yards and
mines that allowed for the construction of the great rail systems of the
west. Gordon uses Hammond’s promotion of anti-union ideals
throughout the areas he worked within to show a greater movement of
ideological stratification within the greater United States. Gordon shows
Hammond’s ties to Individuals like C.P. Huntington who would be major
figures in Hammond’s later life. Fighting unionization within Humboldt
County, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and throughout Oregon Hammond
hired strikebreakers, opposing any reform to address labor concerns.
Often Hammond would fight other lumber companies, the government,
and native peoples over access to resources within a region. Hammond
would fight accusations of timber poaching and land fraud throughout his
life often using political maneuvering to avoid prosecution and fines.
Gordon uses these instances of Hammond’s life to illustrate the nature of
capitalism during the period as it evolved.
At the end of his life Hammond became owner of the largest
redwood lumber company and lumber yard in the world. Hammond
accumulated a massive amount of wealth as a result of clear cutting
redwoods at a prodigious pace. In many ways the seemingly callous
nature of Hammond can be seen in a constructive, or destructive light.
Gordon leaves ascribing moral conditions on Hammond’s actions to the
reader. An enjoyable read on the subject of regional regional capitalists,
Gordon relies heavily on production and development data to form the
bulk of the book. Gordon discusses the personal nature of Hammond’s
business style as a pillar of his success, and the inclusion of personal
letters would of been an excellent additional source of information for
the reader. The broad subject of Hammond’s life is presented without
focusing on single aspects leaving the reader wanting more information
on specific sections. Gordon writing is colorful and relates stories on the
periphery of Hammond’s life quite well. The only thing that the reader
will regret at the end is that it is not a longer text. Largely the text shows
an individual that did not disregard nature, but rather regarded it as a
commodity only measurable in board feet.
Cody August Vrba
217
218
Film Review: The Attack (2012), Complex Issues through
a Cameras Lens
Ziad Doueiri’s recent film, The Attack, presents an extensive number of
situations and characters that seem to fall in-between two opinions
associated with Israel and Palestine. While the overall theme in the film
is about people in impossible situations trying to find answers, it has
numerous other social developments of extreme complexity that are
interspersed throughout the entire film. Doueiri presents to the audience
ideas of where Palestinians with Israeli citizenship fit into the collective
society, and how constant conflict affects the mentalities of people in the
region.
The film centers on Amin Jaafari, an Arab surgeon with Israeli
citizenship, who discovers that his wife, Siham, was involved in a suicide
bombing at a restaurant in Tel Aviv. The film makes it clear very early
that Sihan is responsible for the attack, but leaves her motivations for it a
mystery. From that point on, the film follows Amin through numerous
sections of both Palestinian and Israeli society, territory, and culture, as
he tries to discover the motivations behind his wife’s actions.
The questions that Doueiri offers to his audience are extremely
visible, yet very subtle and nuanced in their presentation. The earliest
concept shown is where do Palestinians integrated into Israeli society fit
into the overall structure. In the beginning of the film, the audience sees
Amin being needled by a couple of his Israeli colleagues over his
finances and recent accolades, making it clear that he is not completely
accepted in the hospital where he works. Following this is an interaction
between Amin and a survivor of the attack. In this scene, the audience
sees the survivor vehemently reject Amin as his surgeon and declare that
he does not want to be treated by an Arab doctor. The reverse of this is
seen when Amin returns to his home town of Nablus in the West Bank.
While visiting, his reception is less then welcoming, some believe that
Amin is working for the Israeli internal security forces, namely Shin Bet,
or that he is being monitored by them in hopes of exposing agitators.
Others believe that he is simply a man who abandoned his people and
heritage for a more comfortable life. Situations of this nature are not new
developments in Israeli-Palestinian society. Rhoda Kanaaneh wrote a
piece in 2005 for American Ethnologist about young Palestinian men
who signed up for the Israeli armed forces. Kanaaneh detailed how the
219
men were looked down upon by fellow Palestinians for a variety of
reasons, while Israeli’s see them as unviable and limited in their role.1
The other question that Doueiri presents to the audience is how
living under the stress of constant conflict affects people in the area. In
the beginning of the film, the audience sees Amin talking with a friend
named Raveed, who works for the Israeli police. During their
conversation, Raveed describes a horrendous incident between a
Palestinian and an Israeli that ends with one, the Israeli, being stabbed to
death; however, he concludes with ambivalence by asking what can be
done. Raveeds’ statement, coupled with Amins’ nonchalant response,
indicates an air of acceptance among both Palestinians and Israelis over
the violence that occurs every day, reducing it to a part of daily life. Lori
Allen described in her 2008 article for Cultural Anthropology the Arabic
phrase “Ta`wwunda” which can be translated as “we have gotten used to
it.”2 This phrase applies heavily to the tone of this film: violence, the
threat of violence, and death, are all alluded to throughout the entire film,
yet the subjects have a feel of casualness that is nothing short of jarring.
A final trend that Doueiri highlights is that of the martyr poster,
a subject Allen also covers in her publication. As the name implies,
martyr posters display the faces and final quotes of suicide bombers. As
shown in the film, they can be other pieces of memorabilia as well, such
as flyers, key chains, and cards, which demonstrated by what the young
boy in Nablus was selling on the street. Allen points out that this action
merely reinforces people’s awareness of how close death is at any given
time, and even goes as far as to say that it unites people on both sides;
perhaps rightly so.3
Ziad Doueiri has crafted a film that is nothing short of a
masterpiece in its capturing of an extremely complex issue. No side is
taken throughout the film, no ideology is held above any other, and
everyone’s suffering is presented. There is no clear right or wrong,
villain or hero, winner or loser; only people and impossible decisions.
Ultimately, what Doueiri created is a very human story about decisions
that cannot be taken back, regrets that must be endured, and uncertainties
that must be forded.
Steven Anthony
1
Rhoda Kanaaneh,“Boys or Men? Duped or ‘Made?’ Palestinian Soldiers in the
Israeli Military,” American Ethnologist 32, no. 1 (2005): 261-262 & 270.
2
Lori Allen, “Getting by the Occupation: How Violence Became Normal
During the Second Palestinian Intifada,” Cultural Anthropology 23, no. 3
(2008): 457.
3
Ibid., 462-463.
220
Film Review: 42 (2013)
The film 42 depicts the struggle of an African American man, Jackie
Robinson, born in 1919, who played Major League Baseball for the
Brooklyn Dodgers and faced both criticism and segregation. This movie
was released in 2013, and was directed by Brian Helgeland. It featured
Chadwick Boseman, T.R. Knight, Harrison Ford, and Rachel Robinson.
42 was named after Jackie Robinson’s Brooklyn Dodgers’ uniform
number and showed the beginning of desegregation, and how one man’s
triumph can start a transformation on a national scale. This film is an
accurate description of his career and importance of desegregation, but it
did not satisfactorily acknowledge his contribution off the field in
changing the status of blacks in American society.
Jackie Robinson was portrayed accurately on the field in this
movie. His batting average and ability to play baseball was uncanny. As a
rookie, he achieved 12 home runs, 29 steals, and ended the season with a
.297 batting average. He was a rising star in 1947, and by 1962, was
presented with the honor of a position in the Baseball Hall of Fame.4 His
first major league baseball manager, Leo Durocher, played by
Christopher Miloni, truly believed in him. Robinson attracted many
supporters from the black community, but that still was not enough to
convince the majority of people that he was just as capable of playing the
great American pastime.
The movie depicted the struggle that Robinson faced within
himself, through his teammates, and by society. During one of his first
games with the Brooklyn Dodgers, a teammate, much to everyone’s
surprise, stood up to the opposing team member as Robinson went up to
bat. The opposing team yelled out profanities and made unnecessary
noise as he stepped up to the plate in hopes of intimidating Robinson. He
struck out, emotionally broke down, went to the dugout, and broke his
bat in half. This scene was the first and only time throughout the film in
which Robinson is shown reaching his breaking point. No matter what
challenges he faced and no matter how mad or angry he became,
however, he always stepped up to the plate and excelled on the field.
When Robinson first started playing for the Brooklyn Dodgers,
not everyone was thrilled to have him. His teammates did not want to
play with a black man, so they started a petition and used it to
unanimously vote to remove him from the team. With only his coach
standing beside him, he did his best to resist the backlash from his team.
Leo Durocher quickly shut down the petition. He held a meeting and told
the players that regardless of skin color, they needed to respect each
other. The director used this as a turning point to show that there were
4
"About Jackie Robinson," Jackie Robinson Foundations, last modified 2011,
http://www.jackierobinson.org/about/jackie.php.
221
supporters, besides his coach Leo Durocher and his wife Rachel
Robinson.
The teammates who once petitioned to have Robinson off the
team made the choice to stand up for him when Robinson faced verbal
abuse from opposing teams and Dodger fans. When Robinson went up to
bat, people from the crowds repeatedly taunted him. They would shout
“You don’t belong here.” After seeing him play, individuals quickly
changed their opinions. Robinson felt more empowered and continued to
excel in baseball. As his teammates witnessed this, they were then
motivated to support Robinson, despite racial differences. After this
scene, teammates as well as fans from the “whites only” and “colored
sections” showed their support. Pep talks, fans, and the change he was
making kept him going even when the majority of Americans wanted to
see him give up.
42 did a great job at showing what life was like for all African
Americans in the mid-twentieth century, not just Jackie Robinson.
Throughout the film, Robinson's wife and friends had to challenge
segregation. Jackie and Rachel Robinson were kicked off a flight,
because Rachel used a “whites only” restroom. This shows how closeminded and unfair society was towards blacks in the United States well
into the twentieth century. The entire black community faced
segregation, but Jackie Robinson put himself in the eyes of the public
and made himself a prime target for abuse.
The film 42 depicted what life was like for Jackie Robinson on
the field, but it did not show his involvement in transforming the status
of blacks in the United States when he was off the field in any capacity.
Jackie Robinson shaped the status of blacks in the United States
throughout the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960's, through activism and financial
support. Robinson became heavily involved in work in the National
Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other
organizations aimed towards helping the black community. Robinson
became a businessman and wrote several columns on issues blacks faced
in society. He traveled throughout the United States, and gave lectures on
racial tolerance and how to respect one another, despite racial
differences. Finally, through several campaigns, he was able to raise
large amounts of funds for the NAACP.5
Unlike most films that depict African American history through
slavery, the film 42 addresses black history through sports. Being
accepted on a Major League Baseball team in the United States in the
1940s and 1950s was a huge accomplishment for anyone of color. Being
taken seriously alone was a significant obstacle for Jackie Robinson. This
makes his accomplishment only that much more inspiring, however.
Jackie Robinson paved the way for African American rights
5
Ibid.
222
during segregation. He broke the color barrier in American baseball, and
also opened opportunities for future non-white athletes in society. Even
though the majority of the population was not accepting of his race,
Robinson still took pride in what he was setting out to accomplish.
Throughout his career, he received harsh criticisms and humiliation. The
movie reflected a mix of opinions among these two groups. Robinson
was forced to play in a stadium, on a team that did not want him. As hard
as this was, he was able to pull through and challenge segregation.
Alexandra Martin
223
224
Film Review: 12 Years a Slave (2013)
Dedicated to the California State University, San Bernardino History
Department, and the students of the History Club. Thank you for your
continued support and enthusiasm.
Introduction
The 2013 film, 12 Years a Slave, portrays the true story of Solomon
Northup, a free black man from upstate New York who was kidnapped in
1841 and sold into slavery. He was then given a new name, Platt. It was
under this new identity that Solomon would be subjected to a life of
abuse and humiliation. The film offers intimate insight into the life and
treatment of a slave in the Antebellum South, as well as the racial and
social hierarchy that took place in the North and South alike. Solomon
Northup, played by actor Chiwetal Ejiofer, is able to get word of his
plight to his closest friends in the North, whom later rescue him and
return him to his family in 1853. When he returns, Solomon, a once
prominent member of society, is now a broken and rundown man,
ashamed of his appearance and his absence from his familial obligations.
It is with this last intimate scene, when Solomon is reunited with his
family, that the film ends. The abolitionist message is clear, however.
The institution of slavery was a poisonous thorn in the side of the
country that led to the disruption of both the family and the human spirit.
Shortly after his return in 1853, Solomon Northup published his
memoirs. The original book of the same name was dedicated to Harriet
Beecher Stowe, and said to have been introduced as “another key to
Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”568 It sold over thirty thousand copies. Therefore, it
is not only one of the longest slave narratives, but also one of the bestselling.569
Decades later, in 1931, a dusty copy of the book was discovered
in a library in Bunkie, Louisiana by twelve-year-old Sue Eakin. Eakin
became fascinated with the story of Solomon Northup and eventually
would write her master’s thesis on the story of Twelve Years a Slave.
After graduating from Louisiana State University, Eakin continued her
research of Solomon Northup, and in 1968, published a second edition of
Twelve Years a Slave. In 2007, Eakin published an enhanced version,
which included her research after 1968, as well as maps, pictures, and
historian commentary. It was not until two years after her 2009 death,
568
“Solomon Northup,” Documenting the American South, accessed March 3,
2014, http://docsouth.unc.edu/fpn/northup/summary.html.
569
Ibid.
225
that Solomon Northup’s story would be picked up by Brad Pitt’s
production company, Plan B, and turned into an Academy Award
winning film directed by Steve McQueen. According to the Hollywood
Reporter, after the film was released, the memoirs of Solomon Northup
jumped from number three hundred twenty-six on amazon.com to
number nineteen. 570 This short essay will highlight leading critic reviews,
as well as the major successes of the film. In addition, this essay will
give insight into the racial and social hierarchy of the plantation South
and the significance of the role of filmmakers as public historians, and
their obligation to remain historically accurate.
Awards and Critic Reviews
According to IMDb.com, the film 12 Years a Slave received 134 awards,
and was nominated for 137 awards.571 Among the most prestigious was
the 2014 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture of the Year, and the
2014 Golden Globe Award for Best Picture – Drama. In addition, the
film 12 Years a Slave is the first film to be directed and produced by a
black filmmaker (Steve McQueen), and to be written by a black
screenplay writer (John Ridley), to win the Academy Award for Best
Motion Picture of the Year.572 Lupita Nyong’o, who played the character
of Patsey, also won the Academy Award for Best Performance by an
Actress in a Supporting Role.
Although the film 12 Years a Slave is not the first film about
slavery in the United States, as stated by the New York Times film critic
writer Manohla Dargis, “…it may however be the one that finally makes
it impossible for American cinema to continue to sell the ugly lies it’s
been hawking for more than a century.”573 Furthermore, Joe Neumaier,
of the New York Daily News, stated that the film is “a harrowing,
unforgettable drama that doesn’t look away from the reality of slavery
and, in so doing, helps us all fully, truly confront it.”574 The raw and
570
“12 Years a Slave Oscar,” Hollywood Reporter, accessed March 15, 2014,
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/12-years-a-slave-oscar-685803.
571
“12 Years a Slave: Awards,” IMDB, accessed March 12, 2014,
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2024544/awards?ref_=tt_ql_4.
572
Ibid.
573
Manohla Dargis, “The Blood and Tears, Not the Magnolias,” New York
Times, October 17, 2013, accessed March 12, 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/12-years-a-slave-holds-nothingback-in-show-of-suffering.html?_r=1&pagewanted=1&.
574
Joe Neumaier, “‘12 Years a Slave’: Movie Review,” New York Daily News,
October 17, 2013, accessed March 17, 2014,
http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/12-years-slave-moviereview-article-1.1488866.
226
graphic nature of the film dismantles the normative American narrative
of the institution of slavery, as often portrayed through the all too
familiar role of the revered “mammy” or the trusted “butler.”
Racial and Social Stratification
Solomon Northup’s account of his life as a freeman, and later a slave,
gives the viewer insight into the social and racial divisions of the 19th
century. Slaves were subject to a highly stratified social system. This
hierarchy was constructed, and reinforced, by both the dominant white
society and the slave society. The film portrays several instances in
which blacks perpetuated a socially stratified system. The scene that best
portrays this stratification is when Northup and several other captives are
on board a ship headed for the south. In this scene, Northup suggest that
the slaves should rebel against their captors. The character Robert,
played by Michael K. Williams, expresses that the other captives on
board are not like them, because they have been in an inferior status of
servitude all their lives, and their spirits have been broken by the lash.
In contrast, the film portrays cases of blacks in a position of
servitude that have not been subject to abuse and retain a higher social
status among the slaves. One such instance is of Mistress Shaw, played
by Alfre Woodard. Mistress Shaw is treated kindly by her white master
and is handsomely provided for. She has used her sexuality and
cunningness to reach an elevated position within the house, and has even
obtained her own servants to attend to her every need. This scene of
Mistress Shaw on the patio being waited on by other house slaves, while
dressed in a fine gown, shows that masters were capable of being kind to
their slaves, and that upward mobility within the slave hierarchy could be
achieved.
Conclusion
In many ways, filmmakers take on the role of public historians and are
expected to portray historical events accurately. Director Steve McQueen
and screenwriter John Ridley expertly portray the reality of the
institution of slavery in the Antebellum South with the film 12 Years a
Slave. By utilizing the memoirs of Solomon Northup, a free black man
who was kidnapped and sold into slavery, the film offers intimate insight
into the harsh realities of slavery, as well as the complexities of the
relationship between slave and master. The film highlights the active role
of slaves in establishing a racially and socially stratified system. In
addition, the film combats the notion that slaves were passive agents, but
rather that they were active in their attempts to manipulate their status in
227
the hierarchical slave system. The story of Solomon Northup is
significant in that it represents the plight of many African Americans of
the period whose stories have not been recorded and whose voices have
been lost.
Lauren Kirschke, Jasmin Gonzalez,
Moriah Schnose, and Haley Carter
Members of the CSUSB History Club
228
Exhibit Review: “Traveling the Silk Road” at the Natural
History Museum of Los Angeles
The authors would like to extend their thanks to the AMNH, and Michael
Walker, for providing the images for this review. Your support is greatly
appreciated.
The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County temporary exhibit,
“Traveling the Silk Road” serves as a great introduction to the long,
convoluted history of the Silk Roads. This exhibit takes the audience on
a journey along the land routes that connected the Eurasian landmass,
beginning in Xi’an (known also as Chang’an), and stopping in the major
cities of Turfan, Baghdad, and Samarkand. The exhibit shows what sorts
of goods were traded as well as snippets of the cultures of the people
who lived in the areas traversed. For the public, this exhibit offered a
general base of information on the Silk Roads, however, the overall
exhibit lacked depth and substance.
The museum does an excellent job of introducing the Silk Roads
to guests who are not well versed on the subject. A focus on four main
cities is less overwhelming for the general public than if they would have
examined every important city in the long history of the Silk Roads. At
the start of the exhibit, the visitor is given a "passport" to stamp at each
location, giving the illusion of going on a journey. That aspect, along
with other interactive features, makes the exhibit appealing, especially
for children. The life-size models of camels and a Tang-era silk loom add
a sense of immersion to the Silk Roads. The exhibit cleverly engages the
senses. Guests can watch animated videos of Chinese folk tales, feel a
rough sample of papyrus, smell different jars of spices and scents that
were popular on the Silk Roads, observe silk worms behind a glass,
manipulate an astrolabe to calculate the altitude of stars, explore an
informative map on a large touch screen, and listen to various musical
instruments used in Xi'an with the touch of a button.
229
Figure 1: An interactive electronic tabletop map in the Samarkand section of the
exhibition invites visitors to discover the links among cultures, technology, and
geography along the Silk Road. By pressing different buttons, new information
is projected across the map, revealing surprising connections. © AMNH/D.
Finnin
At the last room of the exhibit, there are large displays of what
the four featured locations look like today. This makes the Silk Roads
relatable to the mo ern era because it shows how much those cities have
both changed and remained the same. At the very end of the exhibit, a
large screen with a quiz game encourages the guests to test their
knowledge by answering questions that pertain to the exhibit. This
interactive game appealed to a wide range of audiences from the elderly
to the very young. Few museums are able to keep such diverse crowds
entertained without compromising the educational material, and while
this exhibit could have done a better job by including more educational
stations, the fact that they were able to balance these aspects well is
worthy of merit.
Specific displays of the exhibit were interesting, including
Baghdad’s advanced glass making section. It engaged audiences and
allowed us to get a different feel for all of the kinds of glass that were
made in that time period and highly valued along the Silk Roads. This
provided the audience insight into a culture vastly different from our
own, as well as historical context into what was valuable during that
place and time. The exhibit design was stellar in most aspects; it was
accessible, and easily navigable. The displays were well lit and they were
spread out well enough so that the exhibit could avoid most congestion.
230
One benefit of the exhibit was the concise narrative it followed. It kept
the audience following the flow of the museum, without feeling
constrained by it.
Figure 2: Turfan Night Market. The lush Turfan section of the exhibition
transports visitors to a re-created night market in this desert city overflowing
with all the goods—sapphires, silks, jades and rubies, leopard furs and peacock
feathers, and fruits and spices—that would have captivated travelers over a
thousand years ago. © AMNH.
Afterwards, just like any good museum, there was a
conveniently located gift shop with Silk Roads-themed merchandise and
books that invite the reader to dive into a deeper world than the limits of
the exhibit. This museum exhibit served as a good introduction to the
Silk Roads, which may encourage others to expand their newly found
knowledge in the future. The exhibit is not without its flaws, however.
Problems did not lie in the design, but in the subject matter and the
excessive simplicity of what was sometimes being conveyed to the
audience. There is nothing wrong with simplicity--every permanent
exhibit in the museum was simple in its design--however, this was a
special exhibit. As an exhibit where one travels along a set path, and with
an added cost to the regular admission, it is reasonable to expect a far
more in-depth exploration of the subject matter than what was on display
at the museum.
231
One of the expectations that fell short was that the exhibit
stopped at Baghdad. The curators did not show how trade impacted the
Roman and Byzantine Empires and their sumptuary laws, for example,
which strictly regulated who could buy and sell silks, as well as other
luxury goods. From material goods to intellectual advancements, these
empires were affected tremendously by the trade with the Silk Road, yet
the exhibit neglected this aspect of the history. There is a small section
on the maritime trade routes in the last room, which makes it seem as if
the maritime trade was not as important as the trade in the four cities.
This is misleading, since the “Maritime Silk Roads” were vastly
important to the movement of goods and ideas. Another issue with the
exhibit content was that it understated the peoples and cultures of the
oasis towns in between the major cities. Most of the merchants traveling
along the Silk Roads did not travel more than the 100 plus miles in any
direction and only went a certain distance outside their villages or cities
to trade their wares to other merchants and return home–for the most
part, it was nothing as grand as the travels of Marco Polo. The exhibit,
however, did not touch upon this important subject at all.
Another section relegated to the end of the exhibit was the
interactive touch-screen table with sections for the different cultures,
motifs, and styles of handicrafts they produced. Also included on the
table was a small section on religion. This section could have had its
own room because religion played a role as large as actual trading along
the Silk Roads. When merchants traded, they were not only trading
goods, but were exchanging ideas, cultures, and religions. There could
have been better efforts in developing this important idea.
232
Figure 3: Chinese Buddha. This marble Buddha statue (AD 680) is Chinese, but
the artist was clearly influenced by both Chinese and Indian traditions. The
figure is dressed in loose-fitting Indian garments, but with a Chinese twist:
instead of allowing the clothing to reveal much of the body, the usual practice in
Indian depictions of Buddha, the Chinese artist focused more on the drapery
itself, common in Chinese art. From the Metropolitan Museum of Art ©
AMNH/D. Finnin.
All things considered however, “Traveling the Silk Road” is a
worthwhile and impressive exhibit. A more in-depth treatment of the
history of the Silk Roads would have been more satisfying, especially
considering the fact that this is a special temporary exhibit. It is well
designed and accessible to everybody, and provided an enjoyable sensory
experience; along with some basic knowledge on the Silk Roads and the
places it passed through.
Charmaine Galley, Shawn Martinez, and Stephanie Reilly
233
234
Contributors
Steven Anthony is a senior at California State University, San
Bernardino. He is majoring in History with a concentration in Middle
Eastern history. He has also participated in the Model United Nations
team for two years.
Todd Broaddus enrolled in the teaching credential program after
completing his undergraduate degree from CSUSB. He has been a
teacher of students with special needs for the last twelve years. In 2012,
he decided to retur to CSUSB and further his education by earning a
Master of Arts in Social Sciences with an emphasis in modern European
history. He plans to teach part-time at the junior college level while
continuing his career in the field of special education. He would like to
thank Dr. Timothy Pytell for his encouragement and expertise in
European history and Dr. Robert Blackey for his invaluable input during
the editing process. In addition, he would like to thank his fiancée Jessica
Williams for her patience and support over the last two years.
235
Cassie Grand is a Senior Undergraduate Student from California State
University, San Bernardino. Majoring in Oral Public History, she plans to
gain future work within archives or libraries after graduating in June
2014. She currently interns for Patton State Mental Hospital in San
Bernardino, California. Her work there entails building an archive and
museum for the hospital’s wealth of history and artifacts. Cassie plans to
further her education by earning a Master’s Degree in Librarian Sciences.
The History Club/Phi Alpha Theta at California State University, San
Bernardino has established an active role on campus and within the local
community. During the past two years, the club has created a foundation
in the student community, with help from members of the history faculty
who utilize their knowledge and abilities to effectively make a lasting
impact on the campus. The History Club volunteers three days a week
with Upward Bound, by tutoring local high school students on their AP
exams. The club undertook fundraising events in order to create
scholarships that provided these students with proper technology that
would aid them throughout their college career. Additionally, the club
has also volunteered at Manzanar, a historical site, for a second
consecutive year to help preserve its history for future generations. The
12 Years a Slave film review is the second publication by the History
Club for the History in the Making journal. This review was made
possible by the dedicated members that were willing to work together.
The History Club extends its appreciation to the members of the club, the
editors of the journal, and the brilliant professionals in the History
Department who work hard to guide the next generations of historians.
Its members include: Lauren Kirschke, Jasmin Gonzalez, Moriah
Schnose, and Haley Carter, who authored the 12 Years a Slave review.
236
Alexandra Bethany Klee Martin is in finishing her final year at
California State University, San Bernardino. She is a Psychology major
with a focus in behavioral psychology. When she graduates, she hopes to
be able to excel in any job oppo tunity that comes her way. After
Alexandra graduates, she plans to incorporate her knowledge of history
into her career.
Shawn Martinez, Stephanie Reilly, and Charmaine Galley were
enrolled in a topics in history course on the Silk Roads, taught by
Professor Murray. At the end of January 2014, they participated in a field
trip to the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County to experience
the “Traveling the Silk Roads” exhibit. The credibility to voice the
opinion on the matter comes from their experiences in their respective
fields of study. Shawn Martinez is a history major with a concentration
in public and oral history. He has done field work at the National
Archives in Riverside, interned at Pechanga, and is currently interning at
March Air Field Museum in Moreno Valley, where he is helping to build
and design an exhibit on the history of March Air Force Base. He will
graduate in 2014. Stephanie Reilly is a history major with a
concentration in European studies, specifically ancient and classical. She
is a member of the history club and volunteers her time tutoring high
school students through Upward Bound. Charmaine Galley is a music
major with a concentration in music history and a minor in history. She
volunteers at the Rialto Branch Library.
237
Moriah Kioko Schnose is an undergraduate student at California State
University, San Bernardino, and is in her junior year. She is majoring in
History with a concentration in African History. Moriah is involved with
the CSUSB History Club and has plans to further her education by
getting a Master's Degree in History.
Sean Switzer graduated in 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in
European History from California State University San Bernardino. He
enjoys traveling and spent a short time touring Israel, which inspired his
studies in Middle Eastern History and his submission on Ariel Sharon.
Sean occupies his time working as a chef de cuisine, experimenting with
his other passion in food, preparing ethnic and fusion cuisines. He
intends to one day continue his education in a graduate program and
teach youth at a high school level. He would like to thank his parents for
their support throughout his education as well as his editors, Ricardo
Elias, Meagan Muschara, and Carole Spitler for their time and
dedication. He would also like to say a special thank you to his history
adviser, Dr. Yaghoubian, for his inspiring passion for instructing and
challenging students at the university and guiding him through the
difficulties of the research and writing process.
238
Cody August Vrba is a third year student at CSUSB. August is
currently majoring in history with a minor in economics. He serves as
the treasurer of the history club and works hard to promote the club’s
many valuable projects. History club members earned the presidential
gold medal for community service in 2014 for their work with the
Upward Bound program.
239
To order copies or for further information, please visit the journal
website, hosted by the Department of History at California State
University, San Bernardino:
http://historyinthemaking.csusb.edu

History in the Making | A Journal of History at

Transcription

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